DURBAN - Thubalethu Township community members have warned that they are going to continue with their violent protests, including barricading roads, through the night.
The protests started on Tuesday morning. Protesters blockaded the R66 and R68 Roads with burning tyres and branches.
A community member, who declined to be named, said: “We are mobilising tonight (Tuesday), the protest is going to continue all the way to tomorrow.”
The community is demanding that the IFP councillors that were fired by the party be reinstated.
“These councillors should be given their positions back, the party never informed us that they are dismissing them. We voted for them and they should be fairly voted out if that is going to be the case,” he said.
The community said they feared that the dismissal of these councillors would impact on the allocation of houses from a housing project in the ward.
“We have been waiting for 10 years for these houses, now a councillor from another ward has been imposed on us. We fear that in these four months she is in charge, we might lose these houses,” he said.
The councillor in question is the speaker of the municipality, Ntombikayise Mbatha. The municipality said Mbatha is in charge of all four wards, adding that the dismissed councillors would not be replaced as the election is a few months away.
Municipal manager Philani Sibiya said the concerns were unfounded. “I urge the community not to be misled by people with their own agendas.
“If the councillors that were dismissed by their party were unhappy, they had the right to appeal within 14 days. I want to make it clear that there is no way the housing project can be interfered with as the beneficiaries have been chosen and in July we will start with the handing over of the 220 houses,” he said.
THE MERCURY