WEDNESDAY, 4.30PM
RIOTING flared again in the Mpumalanga town of Secunda on Tuesday when gangs of youths petrol bombed council vehicles and the houses of town councillors.
In Embalenhle township outside Secunda, 15 vehicles were torched, as were the houses of the mayor and a town councillor.
Mpumalanga police say the attacks are linked to protests against the council’s decision to cut the electricity supplies to non-paying residents two weeks ago. Police have increased patrols in the area and the army has been deployed in an attempt to prevent further attacks.
“The area is calm … but we’ve moved police and army patrols in to ensure that things don’t get out of control,” said Langverwatch-Embalenhle station commander Captain Tony Gama. No arrests had been made in connection with the arson attacks but police are following a number of leads, Gama said.
On Tuesday last week Secunda mayor Sipho Nkosi, 29, was forced to flee after a group of youths chanted that they intended killing him before hurling a petrol bomb through his lounge window. On Sunday two petrol-bombs were hurled at councillor Risco Fakude’s house while his wife and the couple’s one-year-old child were at home. The petrol bombs failed to burn properly but damaged property worth R6 000.
Police believe the attacks are part of a violent campaign by members of the South African Residents’ Association against the town council for cutting electricity supplies. Nkosi said last week that only 27% of residents are paying for their services. The rest had ignored calls to pay.
Meanwhile, 12 pupils from the Mandisa High School in Kagiso appeared in the Krugersdorp Magistrate’s Court on the West Rand in connection with the murder of councillor Eric Ndlaleni of Swanieville squatter camp. Bail of R2 500 each was set for 10 of the school children. The other two were released into the custody of their parents. Their appearance was a sequel to an incident on June 23 when 500 pupils attacked Ndlaleni, a member of the African National Congress, and stoned him to death. Police say they expect to make more arrests in connection with the murder.