Breidbach protest turns violent at N2 blockade
Four held as residents demand service delivery, houses
AVIOLENT protest erupted yesterday in Breidbach after angry residents clashed with police and Buffalo City Metro law enforcement officers during a protest that saw the N2 blocked off during the day.
During the early hours of yesterday, residents from the area burnt tyres and blocked the N2 protesting over lack of service delivery, including the lack of RDP houses.
The police and BCM law-enforcement officers closed off the N2 near the Berlin turnoff diverting motorists to the Ndevana and Zwelitsha routes while trying to disperse the crowd.
At least four people were arrested by yesterday afternoon for public violence, police spokeswoman Captain Siphokazi Mawisa said.
“Police reported for duty at 1am following information they received that Breidbach community will block the N2. The situation is under control but the road [N2] is still closed,” Mawisa said around 2pm.
Although BCM acting mayor Helen Neale-May addressed the residents and asked them to call off the protest, the crowd – comprising mostly young people, including children skipping school – shouted “no!”.
Neale-May, who was accompanied by council chief whip Mzwandile Vaaiboom, ward councillor Sixolisiwe Ntsasela and finance portfolio head councillor Nontsikelelo Peter, told the protesters that their grievances would be attended to and that they would be given feedback on Friday.
Immediately after Neale-May addressed the residents, another clash erupted, with residents throwing stones at police and police firing rubber bullets, stun grenades and teargas.
During the standoff, some police officers and residents were injured.
Vehicles, including a police van and Ntsasela’s Toyota RAV4, were pelted with stones.
An injured resident, Azzedine Weston, said: “We were trying to talk to the residents as requested by the police but next thing I saw people running and the police started shooting at us. I was shot in my rib [area], my limbs and on my face.”
In their memorandum the residents demanded to be addressed by President Jacob Zuma and Eastern Cape premier Phumulo Masualle.
They said the RDP housing request was long overdue.
They claimed their councillor benefited from housing meant for disaster victims.
Residents also claimed their water meters were not being read. Instead the municipality estimated the rates; the electricity tariffs were too high, and there were potholes on the road.
Breidbach Home Seekers Committee chairman Denzil Smith said the residents were fed up with the “empty promises”.
In January, the community held a similar protest where petrol bombs, bricks and stones the size of grapefruit were hurled by the protesters.
A shaken Ntsasela said: “I was with my husband when the protesters started stoning my car early in the morning. The windscreen was cracked and one of the lights at the back has been damaged. I will need to open a case with the police.”
Joe Sotshana, from the office of the premier, told the residents that their request to be addressed by Masualle was not possible yesterday as Masualle was out of town.
However, responding to the residents’ housing plea, provincial human settlements spokesman Lwandile Sicwetsha said there was a plan under way by the department and BCM to start a mix-mould development in the area to house a mixed income group.
“The housing matter is being attended to by a service provider. The development is still in the planning stages and had to be revived after we saw that there was a need for infrastructure upgrade in the area.
“Once the plan is finished, the development will start,” Sicwetsha said. —