Durban - A DURBAN ward councillor’s office was vandalised and robbed on Monday, allegedly by protesting residents, who were angry over power outages.
Sibusiso Khwela, councillor for ward 19, which includes the areas of Klaarwater, Umbhedula, Insizakwazi, Shallcross, Savannah Park and St Wendolins, said that his office in Klaarwater was vandalised and items were stolen on Monday night.
The guard’s room was also torched.
Khwela said he believed that protesting residents in Klaarwater were responsible for the incident and he had opened a case with the police.
He said that on Monday, Klaarwater experienced an electricity outage for several hours.
“I was contacted by residents early on Monday regarding the power outage and I explained to them that eThekwini Municipality was aware of the situation and had assigned technicians to repair the fault and restore power.
“When they contacted me later in the day, I explained that the situation was the same, with technicians on the ground repairing the fault,” he said.
Khwela said that in the evening, residents started protesting because the electricity had not yet been restored.
“They started to burn tyres and blocked roads, even though I explained the situation.
“The electricity was eventually restored, however I believe it was the protesting residents that vandalised my office and torched the guard room,” he said.
Khwela said the window at the office had been broken and a microwave, laptops, cleaning equipment and a wheelbarrow were stolen.
“I'm grateful that there were no injuries when they torched the guard’s room. At this point I can’t even estimate the amount of damage,” he said.
Khwela added that while he understood the frustration of residents, resorting to violence was not the solution.
“We have to remember that there are challenges since the KwaZulu-Natal floods and this caused electricity and water outages. These situations are out of my control and there’s nothing I can do to restore services. All I can do is keep residents informed of the situation,” he said.
Police spokesperson, Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said a case of malicious damage to property was opened at Mariannhill police station.
The eThekwini Municipality said they are still awaiting information on the matter, but confirmed that Burlington Heights, Welbedacht West, Klaarwater, Demat, Moorton and neighbouring areas were affected by a power outage on Monday.