Angry residents from Ilinge informal settlement took to the streets this morning to protest over housing grievances.
They burnt tyres and , burning tyres and blockingblocked the Old King William’s Road near the Mount Ruth train station during a second protest action over housing grievances.
It was the second protest action taken by residents from NU3 after they disrupted work at the multi-million rand Buffalo City Metro housing project last month.
The fight between beneficiaries, the metro and appointed company Ruwacon Construction spilt over to the streets when the residents braved rainy weather callingcalled on the metro to stop building concrete slabs for their new RDP houses.
They claimed the slabs were not strong enough and wanted a traditional foundation. Despite calling on the metro to build their houses on normal foundations or call off the project the contractor reportedly forged ahead with its plan.
Resident Monalisa Sitole said the residents had decided to protest on the road demanding to see mayor Alfred Mtsi.
“We don’t want these slabs and we have been telling the ward councillor. Instead of fixing the problem, they decided to compile a list and told people to write their names if they didn’t want the slabs but people got scared and didn’t write their names because they are scared that they waited for more than 20 years to get houses,” Sitole said.
A number of police vans were sent to the scene after they were notified of the damage at 6am yesterday.
Motorists were unable to pass through the burning tyres, rubbish and tree logs on the road saw motorists struggling to drive through the road.
Ward councillor Zininzi Mtyingizane was called to the scene to address the protesting crowd.
Police spokesman Lieutenant Nkosikho Mzuku said police managed to calm the protesters down and they later dispersed peacefully.
“No rubber bullets or teargas was fired at the protesters and no injuries were reported to the police during the protest.”
Mtyingizane said a meeting was scheduled to take place tomorrow where the metro officials, representatives from Ruwacon and metro engineers will address the residents concerning their grievances.
BCM communications manager Keith Ngesi denied that the metro had opted for slabs and said the system was called a pad and beam system. “Due to the steep topology of the new sites, the contractor recommended utilising a pad and beam system in the place of the strip foundation.
“This improved the amount of earthworks and steps required to access the houses on the section where the grades are very steep. Some steps were becoming too high, which would be a hazard to the tenants.”
He said the pad and beam foundation was designed by a professional structural engineer and was evaluated by com petent engineers.
However, the residents vowed to continue with their action until their grievances are addressed.
Angry residents protest over housing
They burnt tyres and , burning tyres and blockingblocked the Old King William’s Road near the Mount Ruth train station during a second protest action over housing grievances.
It was the second protest action taken by residents from NU3 after they disrupted work at the multi-million rand Buffalo City Metro housing project last month.
The fight between beneficiaries, the metro and appointed company Ruwacon Construction spilt over to the streets when the residents braved rainy weather callingcalled on the metro to stop building concrete slabs for their new RDP houses.
They claimed the slabs were not strong enough and wanted a traditional foundation. Despite calling on the metro to build their houses on normal foundations or call off the project the contractor reportedly forged ahead with its plan.
Resident Monalisa Sitole said the residents had decided to protest on the road demanding to see mayor Alfred Mtsi.
“We don’t want these slabs and we have been telling the ward councillor. Instead of fixing the problem, they decided to compile a list and told people to write their names if they didn’t want the slabs but people got scared and didn’t write their names because they are scared that they waited for more than 20 years to get houses,” Sitole said.
A number of police vans were sent to the scene after they were notified of the damage at 6am yesterday.
Motorists were unable to pass through the burning tyres, rubbish and tree logs on the road saw motorists struggling to drive through the road.
Ward councillor Zininzi Mtyingizane was called to the scene to address the protesting crowd.
Police spokesman Lieutenant Nkosikho Mzuku said police managed to calm the protesters down and they later dispersed peacefully.
“No rubber bullets or teargas was fired at the protesters and no injuries were reported to the police during the protest.”
Mtyingizane said a meeting was scheduled to take place tomorrow where the metro officials, representatives from Ruwacon and metro engineers will address the residents concerning their grievances.
BCM communications manager Keith Ngesi denied that the metro had opted for slabs and said the system was called a pad and beam system. “Due to the steep topology of the new sites, the contractor recommended utilising a pad and beam system in the place of the strip foundation.
“This improved the amount of earthworks and steps required to access the houses on the section where the grades are very steep. Some steps were becoming too high, which would be a hazard to the tenants.”
He said the pad and beam foundation was designed by a professional structural engineer and was evaluated by com petent engineers.
However, the residents vowed to continue with their action until their grievances are addressed.
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