Everson Luhanga
Protests over service delivery in Tembisa have left four people dead and municipal offices looted and burned down.
The first person was shot allegedly in the crossfire between Metro cops and protesters on Monday morning. A second protester was also shot.
Two more were killed allegedly by a gas bomb that they wanted to use to bomb an ATM-bringing the total death toll to four.
About 10 cars and trucks were torched and municipal offices looted of their furniture, including televisions and laptops.
The protest came a few days after Ekurhuleni Mayor Tania Campbell failed to pitch for a planned meeting with community members.
Instead, Campbell sent officials and this angered the community, who accused her of undermining them.
Tembisa has been volatile since Sunday night.
Residents resorted to shutting down the township. Children were prohibited from going to school and no one was allowed to go to work.
Local resident Martha Sithole vowed to keep protesting until the mayor comes down to address them.
The mayor said: “Last week, I delegated five members of the Mayoral Committee to engage residents on the memorandum they submitted to the city. However, that meeting unfortunately collapsed and failed to reach any resolutions.”
Mayor Campbell also condemned the violent protests and said the destruction of government infrastructure has nothing to do with service delivery grievances. She added that she believes the protests were politically motivated to disturb the smooth running of the city.
“As a multi-party coalition government, we are concerned that the visuals we are witnessing in Tembisa are no longer community-based, but rather a well-orchestrated operation to render the township ungovernable,” she said.
“We believe that the current destruction of public infrastructure is politically motivated and intended to undermine the progress of the new administration.”
Law enforcement was kept busy throughout Monday as protesters moved from one part of the township to another, burning tyres and barricading roads with stones and tree branches.
Officers fired rubber bullets at the protesters who would quickly regroup and start burning tyres again.
Streets leading into the township became blocked, making it difficult for anyone to get in and out.
Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department spokesperson Kelebogile Thepa confirmed to Scrolla.Africa that two people were killed, allegedly by the Metro cops.
Police said they have arrested several protesters for public violence.
