The South African Communist Party (SACP) and residents of Thusiville in Wesselton held a peaceful march over dissatisfaction with service delivery in the area on Friday, 28 September.
The SACP has been holding numerous marches in the Msukaligwa sub-district as part of their 2018 annual Red October Campaign declared by their national congress, where they have approached various government and private institutions in peaceful marches to voice their dissatisfaction.
The protest in Thusiville comes after disgruntled residents have been continuously complaining about the state of the area, as previously reported in the Highvelder, 28 September, ‘Thusiville residents in Wesselton are fed up with empty promises from municipality’.
Sewage and illegal dumping are the biggest problems in Thusi, with sewage running down streets and into people’s yards. According to Ms Jabu Mndebele, a sewage pump in her yard has been causing problems for the past five years.
The sewage overflows regularly and a stench hangs in the air. Another headache is the various dumping sites littering most of the corners of the streets.
Residents also say most of the roads in Thusiville are gravel, which means they are muddy when it rains and are not roadworthy.
However, the deteriorating roads are not the biggest problem as the constant power outages are becoming worse.
According to residents, the area experiences outages every day with no notice from the municipality.
Residents are adamant that if nothing is resolved, they will take matters into their own hands and the protest on Friday was just the beginning.
Another issue that reared its head again, was the issue of land with residents eventually congregating at the entrance of Ext 7 in Wesselton.
The site has been a controversial sore point to all those affected with residents invading it in April 2017.
The protest on Friday saw residents disrupting traffic on the N11 Hendrina road as they waited for a municipality official to address them.
The SACP-led group were going to hand over a memorandum with a list of demands which include:
• The removal of the ward committee, which they consider illegitimate because according to them, the selection process was unlawful.
• The Msukaligwa Chief Whip of Council and Speaker be recalled.
The party concluded by saying if the municipality does not consider their demands, they will approach the court of law.
Also read:
https://highvelder.co.za/69013/thusiville-residents-in-wesselton-are-fed-up-with-empty-promises-from-municipality/
