Pretoria - Ekurhuleni Mayor Tania Campbell has dismissed allegations that she avoided meeting protesting Tembisa residents, following a violent service delivery protest which rocked the community this week.
On Friday morning, Campbell who was escorted by a heavily armed security contingent, told journalists ahead of the meeting that she has not avoided meeting the angry community.
“Last Friday I sent my mayoral committee members, which is a normal procedure that we follow. On Monday I met with the communities and on Wednesday we met with communities as well. Today I am here,” she said.
She said she had to carefully plan what she would be offering the irate communities who have left a trail of destruction in days of violent protests.
“The reason why we have taken time is so that we do not pay lip service. When you come with solutions and solution-driven items, you must know that you can implement them and that is exactly why I take my time to make sure that we can implement what I will be offering the communities today,” said Campbell.
The mayor said the damage caused by the protests has been extensive.
“We have done an estimate of the damage and it is about R35 million. That still has to go through a proper auditing process. We appeal to communities not to damage property which is there to serve them. Those facilities are there for our communities, to assist our communities,” she said.
On Wednesday, the Independent Police Investigating Directorate (Ipid) confirmed that it is probing the shootings of two Tembisa residents who were allegedly gunned down by Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) officers during violent protests over service delivery.
Speaking to IOL, Ipid spokesperson Lizzy Suping said the police watchdog was aware of the deaths linked to EMPD officers and they were investigating.
“The investigators have reconstructed the crime scene and some witnesses have been interviewed,” she said.
During the protest on Monday, four people lost their lives. Two victims were allegedly shot by EMPD police while the other two were killed when an ATM exploded while they were trying to break into it during the mayhem.
On Wednesday while visiting Tembisa, Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements, Urban Planning and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Lebogang Maile, said a white officer who killed one of the victims, was racist.
Maile encouraged Tembisa residents to protest outside the officer’s house.
“We must identify him, the society must march to his house, we must demand that he hands himself over, we must demand that he apologises. We must never be nice with racists,” he told residents.
EMPD spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Kelebogile Thepa said the matter has been brought to their attention and they have initiated an internal investigation.
IOL