The MyCiTi bus service was temporarily suspended in Hout Bay as Imizamo Yethu residents blocked the roads with rubble, burning tyres and rocks during a protest over service delivery yesterday.
The protest broke out on Saturday morning after residents accused the City of not fulfilling its promises of service delivery in the area.
Safety and security Mayco member JP Smith said a court order executed at Imizamo Yethu informal settlement’s Disa section had sparked the protest.
Imizamo Yethu Movement chairperson Marcus Ndude said: “We have been engaging with the City and according to their plans and the meetings (with us), they promised to start super-blocking. We have been moved to a place that must be developed by putting in sewage pipes, roads and electricity.
“They promised us six by six metres of land with one metre in-between houses. The promises were made around the time of the fires in March this year. They were going to accommodate most of the people affected by the fire and some who are staying with their relatives.”
He said the mayor’s office was willing to work with the informal settlement’s residents, but some of the people working with the City were not willing to work with the residents, “because they want us out of Hout Bay”. “We won’t stop protesting until we get what the City promised us, and what we demand, which is the development of electricity, water, roads and toilets.”
Groups of residents had reportedly said they were angry at the delays in the City of Cape Town’s service delivery that included its re-blocking plan.
Mayor Patricia de Lille’s spokesperson Zara Nicholson said: “As a result of the protest, a set of traffic signals was damaged. Some of the poles and road signs were set alight and vandalised.
"The City of Cape Town maintains we are fully committed to working with the people of Imizamo Yethu to rebuild their lives following the devastating fire in March this year. We appeal to the community work with us and not to resort to destructive action.”