The Sakhile township in Standerton is holding its breath ahead of a noon deadline on Wednesday for the Lekwa local municipality to respond to protesters’ demands.
Township residents marched through the town on Tuesday and presented a memorandum demanding the resignation of councillors whom they accuse of stealing funds meant for service delivery.
Residents planned to gather at the local stadium at noon.
A Lekwa local municipality spokesperson confirmed they had received the memorandum and had filed a progress report to the council.
‘The only issues that we can attend to are admin problems. That includes the issue of managers not having qualifications and the alleged corruption,†said spokesperson Sipho Mkhwanazi.
He said the municipality could not answer the calls for the resignation of councillors.
‘Councillors are deployed by the ruling party in the municipality. Only the ruling party can take that decision,†said Mkhwanazi.
The roads into Sakhile remained blocked by smouldering trash heaps, stones, burning tyres and concrete barriers on Wednesday morning and gangs of young men were demanding ‘tolls†from motorists and pedestrians.
Sibusiso Dlamini, who works at a nearby factory, said they demanded R20 from him to pass. He avoided the men by choosing another route.
”Now I think it is not a strike anymore. It’s just making money,” said Dlamini.
On Tuesday night, some teenagers demanded payment from South African Press Association reporters who approached them.
They insisted the reporters show them cameras to prove their credentials.
‘Don’t talk to us like we’re kids,†they said.
‘We need the money to buy petrol so that we can burn things,†one said.
Some Sakhile residents went to work on Wednesday in defiance of a strike called by the protesters.
Two residents who work as petrol attendants in the Standerton CBD said they were going to work but would return to the township by noon.
”We are just going to work to see what is happening. We will get back before the meeting at the stadium at 12,” said one of the two women.
Andre Kasselman, the head of a local security company Kasselman Security, said the local branch of a grocery chain had required that their employees come to work on Tuesday.
A mob gathered outside the store.
‘They were trapped inside,†said Kasselman.
He said his company was asked by the municipality and the South African Police Service (SAPS) two weeks ago to help during the unrest.
‘They told me there’s no funds but they wanted protection at the councillor’s homes,†said Kasselman.
SAPS could not provide security because they were only allowed to respond to disturbances, not guard houses.
Mkhwanazi denied that private security, or anyone else, was providing protection for councillors’ homes.
‘There is no such [thing]. All councillors who are full-time are at their offices and those who are not are at their homes,†he said.
The police also asked Kasselman to assist in managing the protests, he said.
‘They [the police] said at the meeting they can’t do it alone, they need the private sector to be involved in this.â€
Kasselman and his partners agreed to assist without payment because they believe it was their duty as community members.
‘We’d take a bullet for Standerton,†said Kasselman Security partner Terrance Duplooy.
Kasselman said he had heard that Sakhile township residents would only be satisfied if President Jacob Zuma personally visited them.
This sentiment was repeated by many of the residents.
‘Zuma must come and sort this mess out,†a Sakhile resident told Sapa.
Some residents did not agree with the violence of the protest but said the municipality had been slow to respond to the township’s needs.
Among their complaints are that the municipality was overcharging for electricity and that councillors had promised to pave roads but this had not happened.
‘If it rains, the ambulance to take someone who is sick can’t come,†said resident Vusi Mpila.
A year ago his shack was flooded, with the water nearly reaching his waist. While councillors had promised to tackle this problem, nothing had been done, Mpila said.
Residents had been protesting for the past two weeks. – Sapa