Tembisa

Ekurhuleni Mayor Tania Campbell says the protests in Tembisa seem orchestrated to make the township ungovernable. PHOTO: Twitter

Tembisa protests orchestrated to make township ungovernable – Mayor

Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell says the protests in Tembisa seem more like a well-orchestrated operation to make the place ungovernable.

Tembisa

Ekurhuleni Mayor Tania Campbell says the protests in Tembisa seem orchestrated to make the township ungovernable. PHOTO: Twitter

Ekhuruleni mayor Tania Campbell has dubbed the Tembisa protests as a well-orchestrated operation to make the township ungovernable.

Residents have been demonstrating over the high utility rates and electricity bills. The protests quickly turned violent and at least two people have been killed. One of them is reportedly killed allegedly at the hands of Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD).

The community accuses the mayor of not wanting to engage with them.

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Tembisa
Tembisa residents are protesting about high utility and electricity bills. PHOTO: Supplied

TEMBISA PROTESTS SEEM TO BE ORCHESTRATED

The service delivery protests quickly turned violent when tyres were burned and roads were blocked. A municipal office was also looted and municipal vehicles were torched.

Campbell said as a multi-party coalition government, visuals from Tembisa no longer seem to be related to community-based issues.

“Rather, a well-orchestrated operation to render the township ungovernable. We believe that the current destruction of public infrastructure is politically motivated and intended to undermine the progress of the new administration.

Tania Campbell

MAYOR CALLS FOR CALM

Campbell said she is aware that the meeting with the community failed last week but calls for immediate calm.

Five members of her mayoral committee were delegated to engage residents on the memorandum they submitted to the City of Ekurhuleni.

“However, that meeting unfortunately collapsed and failed to reach any resolution. I will be contacting the Premier of the Gauteng Province through our inter-governmental relations channels to develop a coordinated approach to the impasse by government.”

“As a multi-party coalition government, our door has always been opened to engage, and we have been engaging with the Tembisa Business Forum as per their memorandum concerns,” said Campbell.

Campbell along with some MMCs met with the Tembisa Community Forum on Monday afternoon to find a solution to the issues in the area.

Tembisa
Mayor Tania Campbell and some MMCs are meeting with the Tembisa Community Forum to discuss issues. PHOTO: Twitter/@City_Ekurhuleni

ANC ACCUSES MAYOR OF IGNORING RESIDENTS

The ANC caucus in Ekurhuleni condemns Campbell of deliberately ignoring and failing to attend to residents of Tembisa.

“The ANC Caucus has on many occasions warned the DA-led coalition government against their continuous neglect of township areas as well as their anti-poor policies that are taking communities back to worse.”

ANC Ekurhuleni
Tembisa
Two people are dead following the protests in Tembisa on Monday. PHOTO: Twitter/@Abramjee

The party expresses their condolences to the families of the two deceased residents “who were killed while standing up for unjust service delivery”.

“A case of murder must be opened and that the Independent Police Investigation Directorate (IPID) must investigate the circumstances under which the killings occurred,” the ANC said.