Johannesburg – The situation in Ennerdale, south of Johannesburg, remains tense on Tuesday, with a number of shops being looted and one person arrested during service delivery protests.
Public Safety spokesman Wayne Minnaar said “Roads into Ennerdale are still blocked by protesters, none of the main roads are affected, Golden Highway at Eldorado Park is open to traffic.”
Protest action began on Monday in Eldorado Park and Freedom Park, before Ennerdale residents joined on Tuesday.
Tyres were burnt in the streets and entrances to the areas were blocked.
“Officers are still monitoring both Eldorado Park and Ennerdale,” Minnaar said.
He said that a number of shops were looted and only one person had been arrested thus far for looting a local store.
Both Eldorado Park and Ennerdale residents are allegedly protesting because of the lack of service delivery in their areas.
Earlier the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements called for calm in Ennerdale, Eldorado Park, Lawley and Lenasia.
“It is regrettable that a legitimate protest has spiralled out of control resulting in looting of businesses and violent skirmishes,” the department said in a statement.
“The department remains committed in finding a lasting solution to the problems highlighted by the protesters. Currently, we are involved together with the City of Joburg to identify projects to benefit those who qualify.”
They said MEC Paul Mashatile would be engaging the affected communities within reasonable time to ensure that any solution is arrived at with full participation of the communities.
“It is the accepted fact that no community has been targeted to be left out from benefiting from government services.”
Residents of the affected communities refused to allow any government officials to enter their areas, saying that they only wanted to be addressed by Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba.
“We also call on communities not to engage in actions that will undermine expeditious solutions affecting the protesting communities,” department said.
“These include illegal land invasions as it is counterproductive and requires scarce resources to protect. We also call on all parties not to mislead communities through false promises.”