VIDEO: Westenburg youths halt cleaning project that ‘excludes locals’
A group of unemployed youths confiscated pothole filling machinery and set tyres alight, demanding more local representation in projects that affect the community.
POLOKWANE – Residents in Westenburg, mostly comprising youths, halted a street-cleaning project on Tuesday saying there is a lack of local representation.
The group of unemployed youths claim that around 20 people, who are not known in the local community, were part of the clean-up.
They confiscated pothole filling machinery before congregating on Ben Harris Avenue and John Smith Street where they set tyres alight to express their dissatisfaction.
Members of the group say their dissatisfaction stems from an increase in poverty and “slow employment opportunities for the youths in the area”.
Ward committee member, Terry Whitehead told Polokwane Observer that these challenges result in a substantial number of the youths roaming the streets or sitting at home idle.
In addition to a lack of local representation, Whitehead said the local community was promised for a small group to be hired for the project but that their ward councillor and the contractor did not fulfil this promise.
“I have a 45-year-old son who lives with me because he cannot afford anything as he is unemployed. But foreigners come to make money in this community,” one elderly resident remarked.
Read more in next week’s Polokwane Observer.
