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By Janine du Plessis
Mamelodi East residents are threatening further action if the Tshwane Metro Council does not respond to their demands within seven days.
On Saturday, hundreds of residents marched along Hans Strijdom Drive to hand over a memorandum of grievances to the local ward councillors.
The situation turned violent and angry rioters blocked off a stretch of Tsamaya Road and demonstrated in the streets.
| 'There is no telling what will happen' |
Police fired rubber bullets and teargas into the crowds in an attempt to disperse them.
The protesters responded by throwing stones at the police. On Sunday evening, protesters set a council building alight.
On Monday, one of the lanes in Tsamaya Road was still blocked by stones and glass, and motorists had to manoeuvre around the debris to get to work.
The police have promised to monitor the area.
Community leaders and residents warned that if the Tshwane Metro Council did not respond to their demands soon "there is no telling what will happen".
They were tired of "empty promises from council" and are demanding permanent stands with RDP houses.
But the council has refused to develop the particular area because it is close to a quarry area.
According to community leader Jacob Lebese, the council has repeatedly made excuses for not being able to move the residents into RDP houses.
In Saturday's memorandum, residents complained of having to wait 13 years to receive housing.
The memorandum said: "Although we protested on Human Rights Day, we still have no report-back.
"The situation is getting out of hand. We will not allow the municipality to ignore us any longer. We will no longer accept nice words and no action.
"We demand a lay-out of plans on how the municipality is going to provide housing and proper services in our ward.
"If we do not get the proper feedback we will shame the municipality and the mayor, and continue our public protests."
Lebese said the council had repeatedly asked residents to re-register their shack stands, creating confusion as to where they stood on the waiting lists for permanent stands.
"This made us angry because we have already been on lists for almost 15 years. Enough is enough - we want our stands now," said Lebese.
"Handing over the memorandum and the action we took over the weekend was the first step. I am afraid of what might happen if they do not respond," said Lebese.
Ward 16 councillor Sarah Kgashane refused to comment on the matter.
Ward 17 councillor Sizwe Mthetwa was arrested in connection with fraud charges in November last year after the community opened a case against him for selling stands illegally.
The case is proceeding in court.
MMC for housing Absalom Ditshoke said the mayor had set up a team to meet the community, saying they hoped to begin discussions today.
"We are not sure what their issues are," said Ditshoke.
He declined to comment on the matter further and said details would be made available today.
Meanwhile, FF Plus councillor Conrad Beyers said yesterday that the municipality had forgotten about the poor and had instead thought up "over-ambitious and unworkable housing plans".
"Though we oppose violence, I have bad news for these people. Their houses will never be built," Beyers said.
- This article was originally published on page 2 of Pretoria News on May 22, 2007
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