Villagers block PSJ road in fury over ‘no services’
Premier Oscar Mabuyane condemned a violent protest where traffic was blocked for hours and then further delayed when protesters dug a trench across the road.
Angry ANC supporters and residents dug up the R61 outside Port St Johns early on Thursday in a rage over sloppy or non-existent municipal governance.
They said basic municipal services in their villages in the Ntsimbini administrative area were a mirage. There were no services. One of their complaints was the way ANC politics were being run at their local branch.
Demonstrators also lit tyres on the R61, blocking traffic between PSJ and Libode. Lines of traffic were backed up for hours through the winding hills.
The trench across the major coastal access road was later filled in.
Mabuyane said it was unfair that travellers were delayed and that taxpayers’ money used to build the tar road had gone up in smoke because of angry people.
“We really condemn this behaviour. We have been talking to communities that when they are unhappy they should not inconvenience others. Damaging a national road like that, digging a hole, stopping traffic unnecessarily is wrong. This is a recently tarred road which was been done with taxpayers’ money. People have a right to protest but not at the expense of public property,” he said.
When the Dispatch arrived shortly before 10am, politicians were on the scene. PSJ mayor Nomvuzo Mlombile-cingo struggled to pacify the crowd.
Police kept a heavy presence as the mayor spoke about the lack of water, the poor roads and allegations of a fraudulent ANC branch general meeting (BGM).
Andile Nqondi demanded to know why 30 years of democracy had left residents sharing drinking water with farm animals.
“We do not like doing this, but we need water.
“We have areas where when a person is sick, we use ladders to carry them to where they can get transport because vehicles cannot reach their areas.
“In my 38 years, we have shared water with cattle. We have been to the municipality and were told that our grievances would be attended to. But to no avail.
“This is the second time that we dug up the road. We did this in 2019 but our grievances were never addressed. I am not satisfied with the answers the mayor gave us. She answered under peer pressure,” Nqondi said.
Thembakazi Mankumpana said they felt neglected. “There are eight villages under Ntsimbini. We want those services. We cannot continue to live like this,” she said.
Mboneni Mqwayi said they were tired of the lack of service delivery.
“Our councillor cannot point to anything in our village and say he achieved it. We closed the road because he and his people were trying to steal the BGM that was held on May 7, taking people’s IDS and scanning them to meet the quorum.
“The BGM has sat twice before and it did not meet the numbers. We have appealed to the regional and provincial offices [of the ANC]; we want things to be done right,” he said.
Mlombile-cingo lambasted villagers for digging up the road but said she would talk to officials and then come back with answers.
“We will listen to their grievances. There is a lag in providing services. That is why I told them that PSJ gets around R34m or R36m for roads for all its 20 wards and 134 villages. No matter how you split it, you cannot satisfy everyone.
“From 2017 to 2018 there has been instability, with services at a standstill. That had an impact because what was supposed to be done then was not, causing a backlog.
“It is sad that they dug up the road. This road was recently done. Some of them have my
In my 38 years, we have shared water with cattle ... We have areas where when a person is sick, we use ladders to carry them
phone number. When they have grievances they can call me. We will write to the province [department of transport] for help,” she said.
Mlombile-cingo said the municipality would contact the OR Tambo district municipality about the provision of water for the villages.
OR Tambo district municipality spokesperson Zimkhita Macingwane did not respond to queries on Thursday.
But ward councillor Fikile Jama disputed that a BGM had sat on May 7.
“There was no such meeting. That is just propaganda from people who have their own agendas. The BGM that sat was on April 25 but it did not go ahead.”