West residents threaten to shut down Tshwane

West residents are threatening a total shutdown of the Tshwane metro should their demands not be addressed by November 17.

The announcement was made by various organisations during the Lotus Gardens, Saulsville, and Atteridgeville Civic Association (Lasca) march to Tshwane House in the CBD last Friday.

The march was supported by various other civic organisations inside and outside the metro. A memorandum of demands detailing the protestors’ grievances was handed to finance MMC, Peter Sutton.

Lasca had originally sought an audience of mayor, Cilliers Brink, city manager Johan Mettler, and council speaker, Mncedi Ndzwanana, all of whom were unavailable.

“Let us protect our townships,” said Lasca chairperson, Tshepo Mahlangu during his address.

“The workers of Tshwane, 26 000 of them are being used, and now they want to use me. We expect after seven days, the scrapping of our bills.”

The bills referred to are the metro’s bill estimations, a recurring gripe among Lasca residents who believe the practice is unlawful.

Writing off of estimated bills was one of the demands.

Bus loads of supporters from sympathising organisations attended the march, including the Mzanzi Safety movement, Intoyethu movement and Soweto Parliament.

The organisations said they stand with Lasca because they share similar grievances.

Mahlangu said more buses were turned away and false information had spread about the march being cancelled.

“We are fighting with Lasca as their issues affect all South Africans,” said Elias “Phizer” Makagwadi of Mzansi Safety.

“Tshwane is suffering from many issues, primarily the wrong billing and lack of service delivery. Atteridgeville used to be one of the cleanest townships. Ever since the DA-led coalition took over, everything has been a mess. There’s service delivery in Centurion, there’s service delivery in Pretoria east but what about the townships?”

Makagwadi called out the metro for failure to increase staff salaries while paying consulting firms.

Intoyethu spokesperson Lungile Msingizane said his movement did not come to support Lasca due to boredom but because it shares the vision of Lasca that government must be run by members of the public, not political parties.

“We are here to send a strong message to the Tshwane government. If that message is not heard, next time we will demonstrate. We are not afraid of the police,” Msingizane said.

“The next time we come back and they haven’t heard our message, we will destroy everything in these streets.”

Ga-Rankuwa Lasca representative Nonkululeko Qhotsokoane warned illegal foreigners and spaza owners during her address.

“We from Ga-Rankuwa say they all must start packing their bags and leaving… we don’t want them in our neighbourhoods anymore,” Qhotsokoane said.

Soweto Parliament secretary Kim Baloyi called out the metro and SIU for not taking better care of their municipalities which resulted in residents having to take further action.

“Instead of municipalities being called to account, we have to come and stand here in the hot sun for hours. It’s not nice but our communities are dirty and we are impoverished. I for one am a mother, I’m not here because I’m bored but because I’m fighting for my son. I inherited poverty from my mother and now I must pass it down to my son. When will it end?” Baloyi said.

Sutton received the memorandum and said it would be taken up with the proper officials.

“I am here to receive the memorandum on behalf of the mayor and we will respond within seven days. They claim I’ve made promises, we’ve communicated in writing and we will respond to the memorandum in writing,” he said.

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