By Ilanit Chernick
Johannesburg - Thousands of Birch Acres residents took to the streets of Ekurhuleni on Wednesday as they embarked in a service delivery protest over lack of schools, clinics and a library in the area.
The protest began in the early hours of Thursday morning with some residents burning tires and blocking roads with rocks and refuse.
Main roads in the area were also blocked preventing pupils from travelling to school and people from getting to work.
“We were promised schools, a recreational park, libraries and a clinic two years ago, in 2014.
“We have been waiting but nothing has happened, we are reminding the new leadership to keep their promise,” said one resident who asked to remain anonymous.
“We're spending thousands of Rands a month on transport to get our kids to school because there are not enough schools here so we have to send them far away to Jet park or Kempton Park,” the resident said.
He added that the three schools which were relatively nearby held over 40 pupils per classroom which affects the quality of learning.”There are 2000 households here, where are we supposed to send our children if the schools are so full?”
Matric pupil Kholofelo Maleka said having no library in the area has been a continuous stress for her throughout her years at school. “Where other pupils can go to the library to study and get information for school assignments, I have to go to an internet cafe and pay to get that same information.
“When I have gone to the library, I come home very late and that worries my mother. You can't walk to the library from here, you have to get transport and it gets expensive,” Maleka said.
Maleka's mom Lillian said that it worried her that her two children haven't had access to the books and resources other children have.
Residents also said there was only one clinic and it wasn't close to where most people stayed. “When we go there, a lot of the time they are short staffed and they turn us away,” said one resident, who only identified himself as Tshepo.
“We need a clinic that works, it's bad and we need a resource centre for our children because there's a lot of crime and they need to go somewhere to be safe,” he said.
“We pay rates and taxes just like the people in Kempton Park, so where is our benefits?” Tshepo added.
Throughout the day, the protest remained calm and peaceful, however there was a strong police presence monitoring the situation.
Community leaders addressed the crowd and also read out the memorandum being handed over to the municipality representatives who arrived at the scene.
Vusumuzi Zondo, public partnership coordinator at the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality accepted the memorandum and told residents they would receive a response from the mayor's office within the next seven days.
As the memorandum was signed, residents sang, danced and chanted. Many held colourful placards which read “enough is enough”, “No more empty promises” and “How much longer?”
Following the meeting with the community, residents began clearing the roads and dispersed peacefully.
@Lanc_02
The Star