Residents close councillor’s office
KWAZAKHELE Ward 18 residents closed the office of councillor Lungiswa Mnyimba yesterday, complaining about poor service delivery in the area.
Motorists had to use alternative routes as more than 100 residents blockaded Njoli Street with burning tyres and rubbish bins.
Later, residents sang protest songs under the watchful eye of public order policing.
“This is one of the oldest wards in Nelson Mandela Bay but still there is an informal area with no sign of a development,” a resident, who did not want to be named, said.
“There has been no development in this area for the past 22 years. Ward projects are controlled by politicians and people don’t even get food parcels.
“We decided to close councillor Lungiswa Mnyimba’s office as she has done nothing for this ward.
“We voted for the councillor because she promised to bring change, but she has done nothing.
“The last time we saw Mnyimba was when she wanted our votes.
“Her office will only be opened when there is development that will benefit the residents of this ward,” the resident said.
Mnyimba said the problem started with a cluster meeting which was called by the councillors from different wards inviting small business owners (SMMEs) to discuss upcoming projects in the wards.
“There was a [SMME] member who was not supposed to be there because he does not belong to that cluster and we asked him to leave,” she said.
“That is when the problem started as there were other ward members supporting him, who said I should not participate in that meeting.
“When they left the meeting they went to close my office before burning tyres.”
Mnyimba said the municipality would be addressing the community on the service delivery issues they had raised. The protest comes as a Hot-spots Monitor report was released this week by Municipal IQ.
According to the report, protest action in South Africa becomes violent nearly nine out of 10 times.
The report states that more than 60% of protests in the Eastern Cape either take place in Buffalo City or Nelson Mandela Bay.
Municipal IQ economist Karen Heese said a majority of protests were about housing or basic services.