Mamelodi protesters spill ‘buckets’ of faeces in streets
Residents caused quite a stink as they protested against the poor state of local communal mobile toilets.
Protesters spilled the faeces at Solomon Mahlangu road and Hinterland Drive.
Angry Phomolong residents in the east of Mamelodi spilled buckets filled with human faeces over major streets in the area last week, reports Pretoria East Rekord.
This comes as they protested the poor state of local communal mobile toilets, after contractors failed to empty them over the past few weeks.
Demanding that a previous contractor be reinstated immediately, they also set several mobile toilets alight.
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Protesters spilled the faeces at Solomon Mahlangu road and Hinterland Drive.
“It has been almost a month now since the mobile toilets were last emptied,” local resident Abraham Makgoba told Pretoria East Rekord.
“We have nowhere to go to help ourselves when nature calls.”
Residents blamed a new contractor for not cleaning the mobile toilets.
“The old contractor used to drain the mobile toilets twice a week,” said Makgoba.
“They hired local people to keep the toilets clean at all times as well [as] putting toilet paper in them.
“This new contractor only comes about once a week to empty the toilets. Then they don’t clean the toilets and don’t put in any toilet paper.”
Angry residents of Phomolong in Mamelodi barricade Solomon Mahlangu Drive and Hinterland with waste.
Resident Matlakala Kotsedi said residents were angry because the toilets were last cleaned and emptied in February.
“We can’t take it anymore, and decided to show people what we go through every day.
“People are covering their noses now, but we have to cover our noses each day. There are flies everywhere; they get inside the toilets and even our homes.
“No one also tells us when the toilets would be cleaned – or why they are not being emptied.
“We just wait and hope they would be cleaned, but our main concern is that our health is at risk and there are also small children in the area.”
She said that if the toilets weren’t emptied soon, residents would dump faeces at the municipal offices in Mamelodi or Tshwane house.
“We are not ashamed of what we did. We can even hire a bakkie to dump the faeces at Tshwane house if they don’t do anything soon.
“Maybe if the Tshwane mayor have a taste of what we go through each day, they would do something.”
Protesters also barricaded roads with burning tyres and rocks.
Business people at the corner of Solomon Mahlangu Drive and Hinterland said they were unimpressed by the residents’ action.
Businesswoman Meikie Sondlo said she was disappointed by the action.
“This is not right, something is wrong with people. I have never seen people protest by dumping faeces in my life.”
Councillor Doris Maja said she had met with the service provider since the protest action.
“During the meeting it was agreed that the service provider will clean the mobile toilets twice a week.”
“However, since protesters torched 67 mobile toilets, it was agreed they will bring 20 mobile toilets this week and another 20 next and yet another 20 in the week after that.”
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