12 August 2016
By Staff Reporter
Residents of Refilwe in Cullinan last night embarked on unrest and mayhem which resulted in the destruction of a municipal building, torching and damaging of municipal vehicles.
Trouble in Region 5 had been brewing for some time when the region in conjunction with the “Re Aga Tshwane” team embarked on a process of ‘formalising’ informal settlements by removing the residents of Refilwe extension 5, 3 and 2 and resettle them in Refilwe Manor extensions 7 and 10.
Some Refilwe residents had illegally occupied the vacant land parcels in Refilwe extension 5 and subsequently the Land Invasion Unit of the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) issued notices to the illegal occupiers to vacate the land. When the request to vacate the land was not heeded, the TMPD enlisted the services of a private company, as is the norm, to demolish 397 illegal structures on the invaded land on August 11 2016.
Incensed by the action, the illegal occupiers took to the streets yesterday and forcefully broke into a municipal housing building, causing damage to the structure. Communication Executive Director at the City of Tshwane, Mr Selby Bokaba, said the City has not yet quantified the extent of the damage. “The angry protesters also torched six municipal vehicles and damaged four others, including a TMPD bus.
He said the City Tshwane condemned the behaviour of the protesters who destroyed municipal assets and said the protesters’ action would inevitably lead to the disruption of basic services.
“The City is baffled as to why protesters would vent their anger at the instruments of service delivery, instead of protesting peacefully. “We call upon the residents to use existing channels to air their grievances and not resort to acts of criminality and destruction of property.
“The unfortunate and inevitable consequence of this action is that vehicles that were damaged would not be able to go out to respond to service interruptions,” he said.