Durban - Hundreds of people gathered outside the Engen refinery main gate in Tara Road, Wentworth, on Wednesday morning demanding that the plant to be shut down and the needs to the neighbouring community be taken seriously.
Community activist and head of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, Desmond D’Sa, said the community had had enough.
He said during various community consultations they had come up with a plan of action that would see local minibus taxi associations refusing to fill petrol at Engen garages.
“If they don't listen today, we are already consulting with legal teams. We have been in contact with taxi associations and have called for a boycott of Engen petrol stations,” he said.
D’Sa added that this was only the beginning of rolling mass action by residents.
“People are angry. The refinery does not give a damn about them,” he said.
The protest comes just days after a massive explosion rocked the Durban south community on Friday.
According to reports, just after 7am there was a massive explosion at the plant. At least seven people were injured in the blast. In a flat not far from the refinery, a family were evacuated after their flat caught on fire.
Families affected by the flat fire were housed in B&Bs on the Bluff.
IOL