Diepkloof in Soweto was quiet on Saturday morning after protesters blocked off roads and set tyres on fire because of electricity cuts, Gauteng police said.
“They dispersed peacefully last night. There was no violence or any arrests,” Captain Nondumiso Mpantsha said.
She said Eskom representatives had spoken to protesters on Friday night and they had dispersed shortly afterwards.
Protesters blocked off roads and set tyres on fire on Thursday and Friday.
Parts of Marthinus Smuts Road, Immink Drive and Beyers Naude were closed so that traffic could be diverted away from the area.
Mpantsha said on Saturday police were still at the scene.
Protest in Zandspruit
Meanwhile, this week saw another violent protest in Zandspruit in north-west Johannesburg involving deep-seated discontent over ward councillors in ANC-controlled areas.
The protests have raised questions about the progress of the ANC’s task team that is meant to be looking into “list irregularities”.
After protests and court action brought against the party by its own members — who claimed that the nomination process was flawed — and before the municipal elections took place, President Jacob Zuma announced the formation of the team in a bid to unite the party.
Early on Thursday morning, ZandÂspruit residents, dissatisfied with service delivery under Ward 100 councillor Maureen Schneeman, again took to the streets to demand that she be removed. Police barricaded one end of a road while at the other, behind a blockade of branches, rocks and burning tyres, a mob of young and old sang struggle songs.
“You see what we have to do to get the government to listen to us?” said Johannes Melley, pointing to the rubbish and rocks on the road.
It has been two months since the elections and the community is angry because no one has been there to address them or their grievances. As they marched, they carried posters calling for Schneeman to step down. – Sapa and Staff reporters