The Oaks road now a war zone
The protests on the R36 at The Oaks between Hoedspruit and Tzaneen have turned into a war zone with police and local groups infiltrating the area.
Police have barricaded the road and no vehicles are allowed in.
On Wednesday Farmwatch members and various units of the Limpopo provincial police intensified their presence as they started a clean-up operation by taking graders into the no-go zone.
Police at the scene told Hoedspruit Herald the protesters were mainly active in the late afternoon and at night.
A heavy presence of police and armoured vehicles took graders in the morning via a convoy to start filling up two trenches the rioters had dug.
This was to protect them from rocks being thrown at them by protesters.
Riots had intensified last week Sunday night when they dug the first trench through the road.
This as another protest flared up near Strydom’s Tunnel involving the Leboeng community who disputed against service delivery.
On Monday, Limpopo police spokesperson Col Ronel Otto said the protesters at Leboeng had dispersed, but the situation at The Oaks had continued as once again they had dug another trenchand the rioters had punctured the tyres of a large fuel truck to block the bridge.
This was later removed by police.
Police confirmed some arrests were made on Tuesday.
Reports have come in that some workers had lost their jobs due to not being able to arrive at their work on time due to the ongoing protest.
This comes after the community members of The Oaks Village demanded that the boundaries which separate their village from The Willows be changed as they were wanting the section allocated for a new mall to be constructed in their area
The Oaks residents were apparently angry with the Maruleng municipality and accused them of not consulting them when they made decisions that affected their area.
On October 30, a 28-year-old man suspected of being part of the group which has been rioting violently in The oaks, appeared in Naphuno Magistrate Court, for public violence.
According to Hoedspruit police spokesperson Constable Livhuwani Mulaudzi the suspect was arrested during the protest which began on October 27
The suspect, Kholofelo Mawune (28) was released on R400 bail and the case was postponed until November 23.
During the riots when the suspect was arrested, the protest had also turned violent,a truck was torched and vehicles damaged.
Rioters had also thrown stones and boulders at vehicles which were travelling through the area.
