Locals not happy with the re-election of Ward 113 councillor as candidate in the upcoming local elections

Angry residents barricaded roads with burning tyres and debris in Diepsloot Ext 7 on August 27
in protest against Ward 113 councillor Abraham Mabuke.

The protesters sang political songs in front of the multipurpose centre in Ext 7, demanding that Mabuke not be re-elected for a third term in the upcoming local elections.
According to the protesters’ leader, Jaden Moreo, residents in Diepsloot can go for three months without electricity.

He said unemployment was rife in the area, particularly among youth, while the councillor who had been at the helm of the ward allegedly failed to address their issues. “People do not want councillor Mabuke. He’s been the councillor of Ward 113 for the past 10 years and yet he has not delivered,” he claimed.

The residents embarked on the protest when Mabuke was recently re-elected for a third term as African National Congress candidate for the upcoming local elections currently set to take place on October 27 this year.

Mabuke dismissed all allegations levelled against him and described protesters as ‘rented young hooligans’.
He claimed, “The protesters are not happy after the community re-elected me to stand as their ward councillor in the next local elections. The community endorsed me to be their councillor for another five years. The protesters are rented young hooligans from our area, sponsored by one of our candidates in our area who failed to make it as an ANC candidate.”

Mabuke conceded that there were electricity problems in some parts of Ward 113.
“We have a couple of areas in Diepsloot which haven’t had electricity for months now due to illegal connections, customers not properly buying electricity and the issue of demand versus supply, and cable theft. Eskom is in the process of establishing a programme that seeks to address all these challenges.”