Tensions soar amid protests in Toekies
Motorists are advised to avoid the Toekies area as residents embarked on a protest involving service delivery and housing.
Hundreds of Toekomsrus residents were outraged and held a massive protest earlier today (August 10).
This was to air their frustration regarding the allocation of houses and the lack of service delivery in their community. Police presence was high along Diamant Street amid the tensions which started as early as 03:00.
The protest action comes as the Gauteng government together with the West Rand District Municipality and Rand West City Local Municipality are expected to hand over Alternative Building Technology houses in the area today (August 10).
It currently remains unclear as to whether or not these efforts will be carried out.
The Randfontein Herald was at the scene and engaged with the disgruntled residents who are adamant that they will not back down from their fight until their cries are met.
One such resident is Drayton Dewee who said that they’ve had enough with not being prioritised as the community of Toekomsrus.
“We feel our cries are falling on deaf ears. This is not the first time we are complaining about being overlooked as a community and it seems as though nothing is happening to address our challenges. The government is expected to hand over houses to people soon and we are not even part of the beneficiaries. Our roads are in a mess and there’s just no service delivery,” said Dewee.
Another resident Marius Mere said he too is fed up with the municipality not paying attention to their outcries and added that they are facing a string of issues, apart from the allocation of houses.
“The challenges we face are issues of crime and poor service delivery. We don’t have ward councilors that stand up for us, and even the mayor [Executive Mayor Gladys Khoza] does not take us seriously. We are living in blocked sewage every day and no one from the council seems to be bothered by that.
“We also have a string of potholes and our cars get damaged, and our municipality is not functional,” said Mere.
He added that every time they try to stand up for themselves as a community, they are met with police officers who are dispersed to interrupt their efforts.
According to him, they are not discouraged by this and will continue to air their frustrations.
Meanwhile, the Herald tried contacting the Rand West City Local Municipality’s spokesperson Phillip Montshiwa who was not immediately available for comment. It will be published once received.
