Siyabonga Sithole
Soweto residents came out in their numbers for the Soweto Shutdown march to the office of the Executive Mayor Mpho Phalatse on Tuesday morning.
Over 2000 residents occupied least 8 buses,12 taxis and more 30 private cars including bakkies from Soweto to Braamfontein.
Ahead of the march, leaders of the march, Pimville/Klipspriut Community Forum encouraged protesters to maintain order and discipline with shouts of "high discipline, high moral“ and ”phansi with Eskom and Mpho Phalatse" to protesters gathered at Peter Rose Park in Parktown where instructions from the leaders were issued before the start of the march with members of the public order policing and other law enforcement agencies on stand by.
"I urge all of you all to be aware that there are people who want to ruin the work that we are doing. We have to maintain high discipline which is why only selected members of the forum will be given the responsibility of speaking to the media. This is to avoid communicating damaging messages to what we are trying to achieve," Thabang Moloi told protesters ahead of the march in Parktown.
The Forum led by Nhlanhla Lux and Thabang Moloi led the march to the mayor’s office two months after the death of Kgomotso Diale who was shot when members of the forum and residents of Pimville marched to Chicken Farm informal settlement to confront Sotho nationals who they had accused of cable theft.
Ahead of the shutdown, leader of Operation Dududula Nhlanhla Lux urged residents of Soweto to maintain high discipline and refrain from vandalism of infrastructure.
"We must maintain high discipline. When law enforcement officials ask us to move this side, we must move and not be confrontational. We will not attack our councillors because they do not have the powers to stop electricity problems and there is nothing they can do to help us sometimes. Let us show that we are disciplined and we can communicate without resorting to vandalism,
"Nhlanhla Lux said in a video message ahead of the march.
On the agenda of the memorandum to be delivered to the mayor Mpho Phalatse are issues relating to electricity problems experienced by the people of Soweto and the influx of informal settlements around the township of Pimville which according to the organisers house cable thieves and other illegal acts.