Premier forced to flee protest
KaNyamazane residents defiant
Mpumalanga premier Refilwe Mtsweni had to be whisked out of turbulent KaNyamazane township in Mbombela yesterday by police as protesting residents refused to listen to her following days of unrest in the area.
Mtsweni, who was accompanied by some of her MECs, visited the area to speak to community members who have gone on the rampage since Monday, barricading roads with burning tyres and looting shops.
Angry residents told the premier to “voetsek” and only come back with President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The area was declared a disaster area after about 2 000 houses were damaged and a tender was issued to repair them.
However, the contractors pulled out of the project after they were not paid by the provincial government.
“We don’t want this premier [Mtsweni] to speak to us, she’s friends with the people who are stealing our money,” community member Tsepo Shongwe said. “She must just voetsek. We want to speak to the president, Cyril Ramaphosa.”
Locals carried placards reading “DD leave Mpumalanga”, in reference to Deputy President David Mabuza.
“These people cannot take any decision that involves money without DD being consulted. He controls them with a remote,” Shongwe said.
Mtsweni said she managed to speak to some community members and had found a solution to the problem.
“But they want the president. We are going to inform the president, but we can see this community is divided as some people want to listen [to me] and some don’t,” she said.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko said: “We have no information of that nature so we cannot comment now.”
Meanwhile, residents of Phosa in Emalahleni (formerly Witbank) burnt down the Emalahleni municipal office on Tuesday demanding water, uninterrupted electricity and jobs from the local mines.