Irate residents set community hall alight
Sterkstroom residents went on a rampage on Monday and set a municipal building alight after a meeting meant to elect ward committee members did not materialise.
The residents, who had gathered at the local community hall, set the building on fire after they heard that Enoch Mgijima municipality council speaker Mzoxolo Peter and municipal officials would not attend the meeting on Monday.
Mayor Sisisi Tolashe condemned the incident and called on law enforcement agencies to bring the culprits to book.
Municipal spokesperson Fundile Feketshana said important municipal documents were burnt in the fire.
“At the moment I cannot say the computer server has been damaged because our team is still there doing the assessment and I will be able to give a clear view of what has been burnt and how much this costs on Tuesday,” he said.
DA councillor Lindy Haggard who attended Monday’s postponed meeting said several meetings meant to elect ward committee members for Ward 27 had been postponed.
“In today’s meeting, not a single ANC councillor and municipal official showed up for the meeting.
“I was the only councillor in the meeting. That angered the community,” she said.
Peter’s phone went straight to voicemail and he did not respond to questions sent to him via a text message.
ANC Chris Hani regional secretary Lusanda Sizani said after they had received complaints about the process of electing ward committee members, they had instructed Peter to find an amicable solution to the impasse.
Police spokesperson Captain Namhla Mdleleni said no arrests were made and they were monitoring the situation.
One of the protesters, Kelina Nkabi, said they had been complaining about poor service delivery for years. “We don’t have ward committees ... After waiting for the municipal officials and speaker to come and elect ward committees and address these problems they did not come and the community got angry,” she said.
Tolashe called on residents not to vandalise property when demonstrating their unhappiness.