UPDATE: 15 August, 9.20am:
Rabie Ridge police spokesperson Constable Jacob Nhlongo said the two protesters were arrested on 15 August for blocking a road with rocks and burning tyres on Freedom Drive.
The two were part of a group of protesters. They will appear in the Tembisa Magistrate’s Court on 18 August.
Nhlongo said calm had been restored to the road and settlement.
14 August, 12.30pm:
A community leader and Ward 110 ANC branch deputy chairperson, Eazy Gaompotse said the protest today is “led by youth from Rabie Ridge who want land”.
He said, “They are a breakaway group from the original Rabie Ridge Residents’ Association.”
He explained that before demarcations in Rabie Ridge, the people fighting for the land used to belong to one ward. “The demarcations split the community in two, now the people who were promised the land belong to two wards, Ward 80 and Ward 110.”
“We want people to stop these endless protests and know that all people on the waiting list for that land will benefit from the land earmarked for development, in spite of the fact that they are now part of Ward 80 or Ward 110.”
He claimed the dispute is due to those in Rabie Ridge who want the land “all to themselves”.
WARD 110 councillor, Steven Lamola has told Midrand Reporter that the protest taking place in Rabie Ridge today is just causing further confusion.
“The land issue has been a problem in Rabie Ridge for a while now but the city has bought the land for development in Rabie Ridge. The first people to benefit from that land will be applicants from 1996.”
Councillor Lamola added that the people protesting today have accused the Rabie Ridge Residents’ Association of giving them false information. “This allegation is not true at all, the residents’ association has passed down all information regarding the progress of the land in question, which they received from the municipality.”
The residents’ association chairperson Charles Jones said the association is not aware of why the residents are protesting today.
Ward 80 councillor Queen Sikweqa’s phone was not being answered by the time of this article being published.
Want more? Read these stories next:
Handful of residents protest in Rabie Ridge
14 August, 9am:
Some Rabie Ridge residents started an unplanned protest in the township on the morning of 14 August.
The residents blocked some roads and set tyres alight. Modderfontein and Republic roads on the outskirts of the township were also affected by the protest and traffic was delayed.
Rabie Ridge Residents Association chairperson Charles Jones did not know why the residents were striking. Muchindu Projects (@musamello) said the protests were due to service delivery.
Rabie Ridge police were on scene. Rabie Ridge police spokesperson Constable Jacob Nhlongo said no arrests had been made and it was a small group of people protesting.
This is one of many service delivery protests in the township this year. In June, the residents association agreed to work with Ward 110 councillor Steven Lamola in order to resolve service delivery issues in the township.
