N2 in flames during electricity protest
Residents near Sir Lowry’s Pass Village block freeway
WHILE the City council has brought light to 63 homes in Uitkyk informal settlement in Sir Lowry’s Pass, further down the street hundreds of irate residents protested for service delivery and electricity.
Residents from an informal settlement near Sir Lowry’s Pass Village took their frustration to the streets, yesterday causing road closures on the N2 between Broadlands and Hazeldene Road, in Somerset West. The angry residents barricaded the road with burning tyres.
Provincial Traffic Chief Kenny Africa said: “There is a high presence of police and traffic. The N2 will remain closed until further notice. Motorists need to use alternative routes when driving from Sir Lowry’s Pass to Cape Town and vice versa.”
Mayoral committee member for safety and security; and social services JP Smith said there were over 500 protesters. Two City council vehicles had been damaged, two traffic lights broken and three city council workers injured.
“The complaint is over electricity that is not been supplied to that area. This, however, is not a city council problem as Eskom supplies electricity that side. We know that there is an electricity roll-out that is in the process and the residents have been told about this. The damages caused by this protest is money wasted unnecessarily, because all that is destroyed will have to be replaced,” said Smith.
Ward 81 councillor Simthembile Mfecane said although the roll-out had been carried in some parts of the informal settlement, there were problems with the names on the list.
Mfecane added that the electricity problem was causing conflict between formal housing residents and those from the informal settlement.
“People from the informal settlement connect their wiring to the big Eskom poles and that often causes electricity cuts for those living in formal houses,” he said.
Meanwhile Mayor Patricia de Lille, over the weekend, fulfilled her promise to get electricity to Uitkyk informal settlement. The City paid Eskom R350 000 in November 2015 to proceed with the basic environmental assessment and last year the outcome of the assessment was that electrification may go ahead and Eskom was then able to start the electrification planning process. As a result of this, the lives of 63 families has improved.