Anger over no services continues
The residents took it to the streets to express their grievances.
An Elandsfontein protest disrupted commuters making their way to work on Barbara Road as a protest action against illegal electricity connections from Emabondeni residents erupted.
In the early hours of June 18, commuters had to find alternative routes to their destinations as a protest by Elandsfontein residents took place. They quickly closed the roads with stones and burning tyres.
ALSO READ: Removal of illegal electricity connections sparks protest action
The residents took it to the streets to express their grievances. Jack Mudzielwana, CPF chairperson, said.
“Their biggest concern is the Emabondeni illegal electricity connection syndicate that has been operating for a long time.
“People from Emabondeni steal our electricity from our power stations and electricity poles. They connect to everything that will provide them with power,” said Mudzielwana.
“This has become a dangerous situation for both sides. We cannot continue like this.”
Mudzielwana said another concern is illegal dumping.“The illegal dumps in the area is a concern. It really calls for serious action to be taken,” he explained.
“There are mounds of rubbish at every corner, including at Sizwe Secondary School. When it pours, learners find it difficult to get to the school. The dump is on top of sewage systems, so when the people from the municipality come to unblock sewage systems they have to remove the rubble first,” said Mudzielwana.
According to another resident, Muvhango Mbulaheni, the community is faced with another common enemy: crime.
“Crime has been one of the worrying issues in this area. There are those who steal flat screen TVs, there is a number of car hijacking cases and the roads are all damaged,” said Mbulaheni.
“The officials are not taking seriously. The companies in our area are now closing down and moving their business somewhere else because of all these disruptions. Who is going to hire us?”
Mbulaheni also said he was not excluded from the electricity outages.
“My DSTV decoder was burnt out along with the TV. This came after someone from eMabondeni cut my power supply cable and reconnected it to their own,” he said.
“There was a power surge and as a result my appliances burnt. We cannot afford solar panels and generators. Last month I had to pay a fortune on services that I don’t even receive,” said Mbulaheni.
Due to the illegal connections, residents claimed their appliances were damaged.
“We live in terrible conditions here. If it is not the illegal dumping causing health hazards, it is the power failures,” said Stephanus Keyser in a previous article published by GCN.
“The City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) has the audacity to send their people to disconnect us if we don’t pay but they can’t send their people to help us when we need them,” said a frustrated Keyser.
Speaking on behalf of the community was Tracy Enslin, the CPF chairperson.
“Council has been singing the same song for quite a while now with nothing being done in the end. As the CPF council and the council committee, we have been writing emails to mayor Mzwandile Masina, city manager Imogen Mashazi, energy manager Mark Wilson and chief engineer Peter Khunou. No one has done anything; hence, today people protested.
“For two years now this has been escalating. There are elders who need oxygen and others need medications to be refrigerated.”
Enslin also said there is the Ithemba Kitchen known by residents in the area that can try to offer some relief.
“The soup kitchen can at least temporarily help those who are in need of its services, but the challenge is that it feeds so many it cannot accommodate everyone all the time,” said Enslin.
Those who want to contact the soup kitchen or needs any kind of CPF assistance may contact Enslin at tracycpfprimrose@gmail.com
Capt André de Jager, Bedfordview SAPS spokesperson, said the police were at the scene to control and monitor the crowd.
“We restored order and the police will continue to keep a close eye on the protesters. Our main priority was to maintain order,” said de Jager.
The GCN requested comment from CoE by June 21. At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.
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