/ 16 May 2005

Port Elizabeth protests enter second week

Protests over municipal service delivery and lack of housing in the Eastern Cape has entered its second week, with dissatisfied residents on Monday blockading roads and burning tyres near Port Elizabeth.

There were unconfirmed reports of motorists being stoned along the M14 and Uitenhage roads, said police Captain Bonisile Sigobe.

He said about 250 people from the Magxaki and Kwadwesi townships were toyi-toying and demanding to see Nelson Mandela metro mayor Nceba Faku.

”The situation is under control for now,” said Sigobe.

Traffic along the affected roads, closed for the time being, was being diverted.

Last week, similar protests took place at Ramaphosa village near Motherwell and at Kwazakhele.

On both occasions, Faku negotiated with disgruntled communities.

Mayoral spokesperson Lourens Schoeman said the metro will still decide whether the mayor will go to the affected areas on Monday.

”In a short while, we will know what the metro will be doing,” he said, adding that reports on community demands are still being collated. — Sapa