Hundreds of service delivery protesters in Chintsa East shut down the town’s main access road yesterday to demand the municipality provide them with housing, water and electricity.Residents, who said they were tired of living like “livestock”, said Great Kei mayor Ngenisile Tekile should build houses or provide them with land so they could build their own houses.
Pupils reporting for their first day at school for the year and workers were turned away by the angry crowd, many of whom were armed with sticks and rocks. Trucks bound for Chintsa East with goods such as bread, milk and beer were also turned back.
The demonstrators took to the streets on Tuesday at 9pm and spent the night burning tyres and branches on the road.
Members of the East London public order police initially arrived at the scene at 3am yesterday and clashed with the crowd.
Rubber bullets were fired and stun grenades thrown until officers retreated to some 300m away.
Resident Zamuxolo Guva said there were about 1000 shacks in Chintsa East waiting to be turned into proper houses.
“We have been waiting since 1996 for houses and electricity and from our understanding, we are going to wait another 20 years for these basic rights unless we as the community do something about it,” he said.
They decided they’d had enough after Thandisizwe Lumkwana, 31, died while illegally connecting electricity from a pole on Saturday.
Tekile visited the area yesterday and pleaded with residents to suspend the protest action.
He said he would visit the community again tomorrow with officials from the Amathole district municipality, Eskom and department of energy.
“I feel your pain. Unfortunately I cannot fix this alone. There are other stakeholders that need to be present for us to find a way forward,” Tekile said.
The protest inconvenienced Port Alfred resident Jonah Dreyer and his family, who were unable to enter Chintsa East and see his aunt, who was visiting from Free State.
“My aunt was not aware of the protest. We left Port Alfred in the morning I came with my father, mother and daughter.
“My father is here to see his sister, whom he has not seen for several years now. We are quite disappointed now that we cannot go through,” Dreyer said.
East London police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mtati Tana said by noon police had managed to open the road for traffic. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
Service delivery protest cuts off Chintsa East
Residents, who said they were tired of living like “livestock”, said Great Kei mayor Ngenisile Tekile should build houses or provide them with land so they could build their own houses.
Pupils reporting for their first day at school for the year and workers were turned away by the angry crowd, many of whom were armed with sticks and rocks. Trucks bound for Chintsa East with goods such as bread, milk and beer were also turned back.
The demonstrators took to the streets on Tuesday at 9pm and spent the night burning tyres and branches on the road.
Members of the East London public order police initially arrived at the scene at 3am yesterday and clashed with the crowd.
Rubber bullets were fired and stun grenades thrown until officers retreated to some 300m away.
Resident Zamuxolo Guva said there were about 1000 shacks in Chintsa East waiting to be turned into proper houses.
“We have been waiting since 1996 for houses and electricity and from our understanding, we are going to wait another 20 years for these basic rights unless we as the community do something about it,” he said.
They decided they’d had enough after Thandisizwe Lumkwana, 31, died while illegally connecting electricity from a pole on Saturday.
Tekile visited the area yesterday and pleaded with residents to suspend the protest action.
He said he would visit the community again tomorrow with officials from the Amathole district municipality, Eskom and department of energy.
“I feel your pain. Unfortunately I cannot fix this alone. There are other stakeholders that need to be present for us to find a way forward,” Tekile said.
The protest inconvenienced Port Alfred resident Jonah Dreyer and his family, who were unable to enter Chintsa East and see his aunt, who was visiting from Free State.
“My aunt was not aware of the protest. We left Port Alfred in the morning I came with my father, mother and daughter.
“My father is here to see his sister, whom he has not seen for several years now. We are quite disappointed now that we cannot go through,” Dreyer said.
East London police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mtati Tana said by noon police had managed to open the road for traffic. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
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