Mashaba kicked out of Alexandra
Angry residents insult mayor
Disgruntled residents of Alexandra, who have been demanding an audience with Herman Mashaba for several days, yesterday refused the City of Johannesburg mayor to address them when he finally arrived at the troubled township. When the mayor arrived at the Marlboro Community Centre, the venue for the meeting between Mashaba and members of the community, he was greeted by a stream of expletives from the residents who also sang Struggle songs. Mashaba had arrived with his MMCs.
Police secured all roads leading to the venue and monitored the situation inside the hall. Johannesburg speaker Vasco da Gama informed the residents that the council would begin by receiving the memorandum of demands and then move to the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the area.
But after these were read out the residents continued to sing and refused to allow the programme to start.
After Da Gama failed to calm the situation, he and Mashaba, including his entourage, left the venue. Thabang Lediga, one of the residents, said the mayor disrespected them by not coming when they first invited him. “He was given enough time to come and listen to our issues but he did not come... Today he comes and hijack our programme, we don’t want him here today,” Lediga said. Protests began on April 3 when residents shut down the township, demanding the city to act on illegal shacks, poor refuse collection and lack of development, among other things. Last week, they marched to the regional offices of the city at the nearby Sandton where they demanded that Mashaba receive their memorandum. The mayor did not pitch up and that further angered the residents.
Speaking to journalists after last night’s collapsed meeting, Mashaba blamed the ANC for the protests.
He also accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of using the protests for electioneering during his visit to the township last week.