Disgruntled residents of Khutsong township in Carletonville, west of Johannesburg, were locked in a meeting with government officials in a bid to resolve their problems on Monday afternoon, the Merafong municipality said.
Spokesperson Seabo Gaeganelwe said the group, which included pupils who were forced out of their classrooms on Monday morning, was meeting with town Mayor Des van Rooyen and an MP known as Ofentse Mogale.
The meeting follows last week’s violent protest by residents, during which some houses belonging to ward councillors were petrol-bombed.
Residents had also barricaded roads, and schools were disrupted when teachers bunked schools on Friday.
On Monday morning, pupils at the Tshwasongu Secondary School were forced out of classrooms by a mob that burnt tyres inside school premises.
One of the grade 12 pupils, Matshidiso Mokapela, told the South African Press Association (Sapa) earlier on Monday that pupils have ”had enough”.
”We really need this meeting with the mayor because our future is at stake … We can’t have dropouts and thugs coming to our school and disrupting our classes.”
She said the mob burnt tyres and forced them out of the classes on Monday morning.
Mogale told Sapa on Monday afternoon that authorities were trying to establish the cause of the problem as residents seemed to be protesting a number of issues, including the incorporation of Merafong into the North West province.
”Other residents have told us that police were not doing their work, pupils are concerned about their education, while others are just here to voice their concerns,” Mogale said. — Sapa