Majakaneng village near Mooinooi in the North West province was tense on Wednesday, with main roads closed due to continuing protests in the area, according to the community safety department.
Protesters were throwing stones at vehicles travelling between Rustenburg and Pretoria, spokesperson Shuping Sebolecwe said.
“The stoning of passing vehicles has led to the closure of the road between Mooinooi and Brits. Motorists are advised to use the Lonmin private road as an alternative.”
The R104 between Mooinooi and Bokfontein was also closed.
Around 400 protesters from the village burnt tyres and a bus on the Old Rustenburg Road on Monday morning.
“They allegedly complained about the water and electricity supply in their area,” said Brigadier Thulani Ngubane.
“The community barricaded the Old Rustenburg Road with burning tyres and also burnt a bus. No one was injured.”
The protest was believed to have taken place around 5.30am.
Sebolecwe said three trucks and a light motor vehicle were set alight on Tuesday night, allegedly by protesters. All four drivers escaped unharmed.
Last year residents demanding better service delivery torched a cement truck during protest action.
“The community is angry because there is no water, no proper roads and we don’t have the RDP houses we were promised,” said community member Pule Rakomane at the time.
Service delivery protests
This comes in the wake of service delivery protests in Malamulele in Limpopo.
On Tuesday Limpopo police reported that a section of the Malamulele High School had been damaged by a fire.
The administrative block caught fire late on Monday night, said police spokesperson Colonel Ronel Otto. “At this stage, the cause of the fire is not yet known … We cannot rule out that it was an arson attack,” she said.
The township of Malamulele has been tense and under heavy police watch following a month of violent protests.
The area has been brought to a standstill in recent weeks following a demand by residents that they be granted their own municipality. Protests first started in the town before general elections in May last year. – Sapa