Durban - Residents who blockaded the R102 route leading to the Nelson Mandela Capture Site in Howick have now taken their protest to power utility Eskom’s premises in Pietermaritzburg.
This was confirmed by the acting mayor at uMgeni Municipality, Sandile Mnikathi, on Wednesday afternoon.
Traffic flow was severely disrupted on Monday and Tuesday on the R103 at Lions River, owing to the illegal blockade by the Lions River community who were protesting over a lack of electricity in the area.
The protest prompted the municipality to write to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), asking them to expedite a meeting between the community and Eskom and to assist with keeping the public order police on standby until the situation was resolved.
On Wednesday the acting mayor indicated that negotiations involving the municipality and Eskom were taking place.
“We can confirm that community members also went to Eskom premises in Mkondeni, Pietermaritzburg, and are protesting as the negotiations continue,” he said.
The acting mayor expressed optimism that the meeting would yield positive results.
THE MERCURY