“We want one Zone 3”: Community members
“The march was nothing else but politicking for the 2026 Local Government Elections."
SEBOKENG.– The members of the community of Zone 3 in Sebokeng took to the streets last Wednesday.
This, they said, was in protest against their Ward Councillor who is also the Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Public Works in the Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM), Tumi Mochawe. The community members accused Mochawe of, “not taking care of our needs”, when it came to service delivery.
They also complained about electricity that goes off for days in the area, sewage that runs all over their streets and employment opportunities that are offered to ‘outsiders’ when projects, in particular municipality projects, come to their area.
They further declared that they want one Zone 3 (Zone 3 is currently divided into two Wards, 40 and 41).
“We are sick and tired of this young man (Mochawe); he does nothing for us and when we try to reason with him, he becomes arrogant speaking to us as though we are not his constituents. We want him removed because we spend weeks without electricity, there is sewage all over Zone 3 leading to our health deteriorating. Also, when there are projects that need can employ us, we are not told. We see people we do not know working here. Enough is enough,” residents said.
Last week, the residents met in the street leading to Lakeside from the popular Zone 3 stop sign, with the aim of going to the Zone 3 Spar and stopping businesses from operating and also stopping traffic at the stop sign, however this was unsuccessful. The group, made up mostly of youth, later disbanded peacefully.
Police spokesperson Constable Thulisile Msibi said that no incidents of violence were reported. Speaking to Sedibeng Ster, Mochawe said that he is aware of the problems that the community is facing and is working on resolving them, however,
“The march was nothing else but politicking for the 2026 Local Government Elections. It was mainly people from Ward 40, near Orange Farm, organised by a school principal of one of the schools. There is a problem with electricity, I admit. They also raised issues about recruitment at Spar and I told them that I have nothing to do with the recruitment there because Spar is a company on its own. I am a very organised councillor and I have an office that is open for
everyone, operating from Monday to Friday without fail. I also hold meetings with the community. We know about the issues, and we are attending to them.”
Regarding electricity, Mochawe said that there are people who have been appointed to engage with Eskom with the aim of re-electrifying Zone 3 as the infrastructure has aged.
