LIMPOPO – Chairperson of Ba-Phalaborwa Concerned Members (BCCM), Edwin Malatji, is once again behind bars for alleged public violence.
Malatji was arrested on Tuesday, October 1, at the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality offices after the BCCM leadership was called by BaPhalaborwa Mayor Merriam Malatji to attend a meeting at the municipal offices to discuss matters of unemployment.
According to a source, the meeting was attended by the mayor, speaker Oliver Mabunda and the manager in the Office of the Mayor, Nkanyana Ndlozi.
It was decided that another meeting will be called for the BCCM to meet stakeholders (businesses and mines) to see how they can work together.
To everyone’s surprise, when they left the meeting, the police were waiting for Edwin and arrested him.
He appeared before the Phalaborwa Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, October 3. The case was postponed to Thursday, October 10.
According to a source close to the case, the arrest comes after the recent blockade of the R40 road, where community members blocked the road with rocks interrupting traffic to and from Phalaborwa.
The protest is said to have started after the mayor said communities have to elect new leaders to represent them on the Ba-Phalaborwa Community Forum (BCF). The forum serves as a middleman between community members and stakeholders (businesses and mines) with regards to unemployment.
“As BCCM, we are calling for the mayor to focus on the issue of service delivery and leave the employment desk to the community. The community has already voted for the people they want to be represented by,” explained Abednego Mohale member of BCCM.
A source told the Herald that the police say they have evidence that Edwin was involved in the blockade of roads.
In August, another case of alleged public violence against Edwin was dismissed after trucks were burned on the R40 earlier this year.
A spokesperson for BaPhalaborwa Municipality, Jonas Mahesu, confirmed to the Herald that the mayor’s chicken farm was set alight on the day of Edwin’s arrest. “It is not known who the culprits are.”
At the time of print, the outcome of Edwin’s second court appearance was not known.
