Council offices in Mamelodi set alight

By Hanti Otto

Council offices in Mamelodi East were torched by angry residents in Sunday night.

People in Stanza Bopape warned that this weekend's rioting and destruction of council property was nothing compared to what they would do if ward councillor Sarah Kgashane did not keep her promise to solve their problems by Wednesday.

The message from a group which set the city council building in Tsamaya Road alight was: "She stays in a mansion; we in dilapidated shacks. Our street lights are not working. We use primus stoves and paraffin and it's winter. Does the council know how many shacks burn down and people die in winter?".

On Saturday crowds blocked Tsamaya Road and by Tuesday night it was still covered with burnt tyres and stones. Residents said they had complained to Kgashane on Saturday about poor service delivery.

"She then insulted the community, calling us fools. We pushed the (perimeter) wall down, so she could see the power of the people," one resident said.

They set the building alight just before 6pm and threw stones at the windows. The fire destroyed everything inside the offices.

"Kgashane told us she will look at our complaints on Wednesday. If they don't sort it out by then, we will do more than this," a young man shouted as he angrily pointed at the burning building.

Pretoria News

Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-05-21 02:34:00


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