All routes between Carletonville and Welverdiend blocked
Protesting between Carletonville and Welverdiend is getting more heated as the Merafong City Municipality refuses to attend to problems.
Residents of Welverdiend, Khutsong Extension 5, Khutsong Extension 4 and the thousands of people staying in the Elijah Barayi mega housing complex near Welverdiend have been without electricity since Tuesday evening.
“The electricity went off just after 18:00. We tried to get help from the municipality but they are just ignoring us,” one of the protesters told the Herald yesterday. Several other people from the affected areas confirmed this, while opposition party councillors have been trying almost non-stop to get the electricity switched back on.
The protesters blocked the road between Carletonville and Welverdiend just before Welverdiend from Carletonville’s side, the load leading to Welverdiend over the railway tracks and the turn-off towards the Elijah Barayi complex yesterday.
Today the protesting has spread to the bridge at Khutsong Extension 5 while the bottom road to Welverdiend past Khutsong is also now blocked.
Although there have been reports that the protesters are even blocking the Doornfontein road past the sinkhole, this could not be confirmed.
As a result, the only safe way to currently get to and from Carletonville to Potchefstroom is the N12.
According to opposition party councillors the protesters say that they give the municipality until 15:00 to switch the electricity back on.
So far the municipality has not officially responded on the issue as well as claims that electricians refuse to go out because of a strike.
