Three protesters arrested
THREE residents were arrested and charged with public violence following a community protest in KwaNdaya Reserve outside eSikhaleni on Monday afternoon.
The trio were released on Tuesday after a brief appearance at eSikhawini District Court.
The men were part of an angry crowd which burned tyres and toppled municipal skips to barricade roads in the early hours of Monday.
The protest action was reported to be connected to the R17.5-million donated by Richards Bay Minerals to the community in 2010.
The community demanded transparency regrading the expenditure of funds and pointed fingers at KwaNdaya induna, Silias Cele.
During their demonstration, residents accused the local leadership of prioritising their ‘close friends’ for job opportunities in the area and for not disclosing any development plans to the community.
‘All we want is to know what happened to the money and which developments in the community it was used for.
‘This is the community’s money and we have the right to be informed, said residents.
On Tuesday morning the action protest continued with residents calling for local leaders to accept the memorandum noting their grievances.
‘We will talk about this issue during our council meeting on Thursday (today).
‘There are procedures which need to be followed when people want to express their concerns and this is not how we do it,’ said induna, Silias Cele.
eSikhawini police spokesperson Capt Thembinkosi Mkhumane confirmed that members of the group were arrested and charged.