Rubber bullets, stones fly as MEC tries to pour oil

POLICE fired rubber bullets to clear the way for a motorcade ferrying an MEC and two Eastern Cape mayors yesterday.

Cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Fikile Xasa, O R Tambo district mayor Nomakhosazana Meth and King Sabata Dalindyebo mayor Nonkoliso Ngqongwa were on their way to address service delivery public meetings.

Xasa’s convoy had to dodge stones thrown by an angry mob of protesters and navigate around six rough blockades of tree stumps and burning rubble set up on sections of the road near Mqanduli.

Xasa and the two mayors spent yesterday trying to soothe disgruntled residents in Mthatha and Mqanduli over unfulfilled service delivery promises.

Their first stop was Phola Park, one of the oldest informal settlements in Mthatha West, where furious residents recently chased Independent Electoral Commission officials away from their voter registration posts.

During yesterday’s meeting, residents told the MEC they were fed up with empty promises.

One resident threatened to destroy pipes delivering water from Mthatha dam to the rest of the city.

Phola Park resident Ndabuko Mfukuli said at the top of their list of service delivery demands was electricity.

“People are forced to use stoves which explode and burn them.

“Paraffin and candles are not safe,” he told Xasa.

It upset residents to look upon a powerless substation nearby and electricity poles dotting their area.

“We are not listening to promises. We demand electricity,” he said.

Xasa asked the crowd to give him until Friday to provide a proper response to the demands.

“We will come back with clear answers,” said Xasa.

But things got heated while Xasa’s entourage was travelling to a service delivery meeting at Qhogi village in Mqanduli.

They were met by hundreds of protesting villagers in Ngcwanguba between Mqanduli and Coffee Bay.

Police fired rubber bullets, while villagers retaliated by throwing stones at the MEC’s convoy and other passing vehicles.

Cogta spokesman Mamnkeli Ngam said the MEC was visiting areas where voter registration had been disrupted by service delivery complaints. —