Service delivery protesters destroy electricity poles and water piping

Protesters brought parts of the Eastern Cape to a standstill yesterday.

In Elliotdale, a hostile group of rural villagers near Mqanduli blocked the main road to Elliotdale, leaving schoolchildren, teachers, residents and civil servants stranded yesterday morning.

Almost 70km away, residents shut down the N2 between Butterworth and Mthatha for three hours to voice their frustrations over service delivery in Mbhashe municipality.

The town of Dutywa was brought to a standstill as a result.

Motorists travelling to and from Elliotdale were unable to pass for more than five hours until police fired rubber bullets at the protesting crowd and cleared the road.

Protestors also cut down electricity poles and burnt plastic water pipes waiting to be installed as part of a state project to deliver water to thousands of Mqanduli residents.

The group, said to come from Maqwambeni village about 15km from where they decided to block the road, were armed with sticks and pangas.

Some refused to speak to the Daily Dispatch and instead threatened to assault the reporter.

“They have the audacity to erect electricity poles in our villages but we are still living in the dark because the electricity is going to other areas,” shouted one youth as the Dispatch reporter left.

A schoolteacher and South African Democratic Teachers’ Union branch member in Mqanduli, Wandile Ngceba, said it was unfair that other people were caught up in service delivery problems that had nothing to do with them.

“They are compromising the future of these young children.”

Sibusiso Styatha from Willowvale said he was supposed to have reported for his first-ever job at a school in Elliotdale yesterday.

“Maybe they will get the wrong impression about me, thinking that I am not serious about the job.”

OR Tambo district municipal spokesman Ayongezwa Lungisa said it was regrettable that people resorted to violence when airing grievances. “We are prioritising Mqanduli when it comes to water provision,” he added.

King Sabata Dalindyebo municipal spokesman Sonwabo Mampoza also condemned the destruction of the water pipes and urged residents to remain patient.

“There is a plan to bring services to them but we totally discourage such acts when people have complaints,” he said.

Mbhashe Ratepayers’ Association chairwoman Nombulelo Nama, who led the protest that shut the N2, said they had tried to get the municipality’s attention but the mayor had simply walked out of their last meeting.

“When the mayor walked out on us, we saw that as a sign of disrespect and that gave us that we are serviced by a municipality that does not value us and our concerns,” said Nama.

In the petition handed to mayor Nonceba Mfecane yesterday, the ratepayers listed a number of issues including clear action on the outstanding rates that date back to as far as 2009.

They also demanded a list of people who were allowed to purchase sites made available by the municipality.

“There are allegations that some of the municipal employees have bought those sites in numbers and that there were a number of irregularities with the whole process,” said Nama.

Mbhashe municipality communication and customer care manager Mzimasi Dyomfana Mbhashe said the municipality had received the petition.

“The municipality is unable to give an exact date in which it will respond to the demands because some of the demands fall outside the mandate of the municipality,” said Dyomfana.

Businesses in the area were closed for the majority of the day as a sign of support to the protesters.

Khaya Gcanga, who owns a pharmacy in Dutywa and is treasurer of the Mbhashe Business Forum, said the problems experienced by the community members are the same as those experienced by business owners.

“We requested businesses to close for about fours hours as a sign of support to the community and also to allow employees to join in on the march,” said Gcanga.