The presence of the South African National Defence Force has been welcomed by Johan Pieters, Chairman of the Newcastle Growth Coalition.
“We hope and trust that stability will return to our lovely city,” he said.
Pieters also thanked the community for putting in long hours during bitterly cold winter evenings, to protect the town.
“We cannot mention names because there are more than 300 members of the community – you are our heroes! A big thank also to SAPS for their assistance and hard work.”
Pieters added that the Growth Coalition was aware of a rumour circulating that Newcastle Municipality had not paid its Eskom debt this month.
“We had a meeting with [municipal management] and they showed us proof that an amount of R65-million Rand was paid to Eskom this month. We would like to ask the community not to share or spread rumours during this time. Let’s not divide our city; let’s rather build it together.”