For more photos and news visit www.express-news.co.za
TEL: 057 357 1304
WEDNESDAY 810 OCTOBER 2014
A MOTORIST negotiates his way past an uprooted tree.
WWW.EXPRESSNEWS.CO.ZA
FREE
RESIDENTS barricaded the street during last week’s protest in Ward 16, east of Thabong, with police on hand to monitor the situation.
Residents desperate Photos: Teboho Setena
People say protests will continue until sites are allocated } Teboho Setena DESPERATE for the allocation of sites, residents in Ward 16 of the Matjhabeng Local Municipality have vowed to continue with protest action until the authorities meet their demands. They set the tone when they took to the streets early in the morning last Tuesday. They gave the Matjhabeng authorities seven working days to address their demands over the allocation of sites. The protesters attributed their action to the frustration of being kept on the waitinglist for the allocation of sites too long and alleged that the Matjhabeng Municipality’s Housing Department was not addressing the dire need for allocation. They caused panic, barricading the main streets with an assortment of items including burning tyres and rocks.
The driving skills of motorists were put to the test as they were forced to negotiate their way through the barricaded streets. Law enforcement agents of the municipality, including the police of the Thabong police cluster, were deployed to the scene to monitor it and make sure the protest did not escalate. “The empty promises made by officials of the Matjhabeng Housing Department to address our request to be allocated sites prompted our protest. As the people we want sites where we’ll receive basic services, where we can build houses or any formal dwelling where one can sleep with peace of mind,’’ said Mohau Sothoane, spokesperson for the concerned residents. He said an official of the municipality’s Department of Housing (known to Express Goldfields & Northern Free State) had failed to pitch at a meeting on 28 September to
address affected residents – fuelling the protest action that had unfolded last Tuesday. The affected people are temporarily squatting in an underdeveloped area in Ward 16 of the Matjhabeng Municipality with water as their only basic service rendered through communal taps. Some residents have erected pit toilets. According to Sothoane, these people have been on the waiting list since 2010. “We have been waiting since then after the authority informed us of its plans to purchase and develop the piece of land between Riebeeckstad and Jerusalema Park,’’ he said. Sothoane said they had been promised relocation to a new development settlement commonly known as 2010 situated between Riebeeckstad, one of Welkom’s up-market suburbs, and the centre of Jerusalema Park which is part of Thabong. The settlement
comprising shacks is allegedly too full to accommodate more people. The construction of sewage and water systems is nearing completion. Late in the day residents called off the protest after intervention by Thanduxolo Khalipha, a member of the Matjhabeng Mayoral Committee, with the understanding that residents would receive feedback seven days from the day of the protest. The protest was in sharp contrast to another event on the day in question (30 September). On this day Sebenzile Ngangelizwe, executive mayor of the Matjhabeng Municipality, and his entourage rolled out development projects which saw completed projects handed over to the community and new ones unveiled. Ngangelizwe handed over projects in Odendaalsrus, Virginia, Hennenman, Ventersburg and Welkom.