On Wednesday, the situation had been relatively calm but changed dramatically to chaos later in the day when angry Zandspruit residents discovered that Gauteng Premier David Makhura, for whom they had been waiting for all day in the blazing sun on the freeway, was not coming.

Makhura instead sent representatives, to the outrage of residents. They started burning things and threatened to disrupt nearby businesses. By late afternoon on Wednesday there were tyre blazes everywhere and residents looked to protest into the night.

Zandspruit resident Christina Motshegwa, 39, expressed the anger of residents: “We’ve had enough of the ANC-led government. They have put us through so much pain and do not care to listen to our problems. Our kids do not listen and smoke nyaope because they have been severely damaged. Old as they are, they are constantly exposed to the sight of their sisters and mothers’ private parts because we are crammed in a small shack with no privacy. If you ask around you will discover that this is the case in many families. How are these kids supposed to respect us? We have been utterly destroyed by the government that we vote for time and again.”

Motshegwa and her family have spent the past 22 years of their miserable lives in the shack they call home. Her son, now 22, who has a girlfriend and one child, was born in the same shack. For the past 22 years residents say there hasn’t been any development to their community, yet billions were spent on the Beyers Naude Freeway, a stretch of which abuts their area. Among residents’ complaints is a demand for electricity, RDP houses, toilets, and water.

Photo: Residents along the Beyers Naude Freeway. (Bheki C Simelane)

Trouble at the township started on 14 March when Eskom decided to disconnect illegal power connections made from the area’s street lights. The illegal connections put the lights under pressure and resulted in malfunction, leaving the community in darkness and creating a criminal hotbed. Residents reacted furiously and barricaded all roads into the area, and broke into and looted many nearby shops. Police had to fire rubber bullets to disperse angry community members. Two officers were injured in the combat and a police armoured vehicle was set alight during the mayhem.

The community of Zandspruit said they are tired of being told lies every time the ruling party sought their support. They said this time they were holding the government to ransom and will not be voting in the upcoming election set for 3 May until they get a connection from Eskom.

“It’s embarrassing to live in dark plastic shelters and shacks while voting every time. We vote to better our lives, so why vote if our lives do not improve? The ANC must fall,” said elderly resident Petros Ndaba. When quizzed about their councillor’s whereabouts, some residents said their councillor was hardly reachable, either sick or just away. A group of women bellowed that the last time they had had a pleasant visit from officials was back in 1997, but could not remember what had prompted the visit, and that Gauteng Human Settlements MEC Paul Mashatile had been the visitor. Many said the ANC officials are ashamed to meet them because of all the lies and empty promises.

An elderly woman, Matsela Sehole, said she enjoyed all the benefits of a decent house, including electricity, but was out in support of her fellow community members.

“This is because I happened to be among the minority that were moved to the housing project in Block 52,” she said. The minority of residents in Block 52 have water, electricity and live in decent houses while the majority languish in shacks and other structures of the kind. “I cannot be chuffed that my neighbour, who I’ve known for years lives, in a shack while I live in a decent home. The majority that do not have electricity steal from us and this causes a lot of conflict among ourselves. The government needs to sort out this mess and the only way to do so is by providing everyone (with) a house,” Sehole said.

How bizarre that the area should have street lights but no electricity connection to people’s shacks.

“So we decided to make illegal connections to the street lights. They should have started with our shacks and worked their way out. I’ve lost all hope in the ANC. Imagine, only a few people were moved from the transit camp to Block 52,” Thembi Ndlovu said.

A young policeman on the scene said he was surprised that the residents had chosen to hand over their memorandum at the local police station and wondered what police had to do with it.

Photo: Protesters gather around a police armoured vehicle in protest while one remains on the vehicle’s rooftop. (Bheki C Simelane)

When Daily Maverick asked residents what they thought the root of the problem was and how it could be resolved, many said corruption at higher level had forced the government to abandon poor communities and only purported to care around election time.

“The government needs to take poor communities seriously and act on the development that they relentlessly enjoy preaching. This is their strategy. They make empty promises. They said residents will have electricity by June or July this year but residents have decided to protest to force them to provide electricity now because after the elections we will all be forgotten, and also the June/July promise can only take effect after the elections. No more lies.” Community Leader Sabata Mokhethi said.

Mokhethi said the solution was for the people to choose their own leaders and that accountability at all government levels must be ensured one way or the other to curtail corruption. Mokhethi said other people owned more than one RDP house because of the actions of corrupt officials. He said they were awaiting a positive response within 72 hours. “If in 72 hours we still haven’t received a response, residents have vowed to continue to disrupt,” Mokhethi said.

When asked about the many dangers posed by illegal electricity connections, Mokhethi said they were very concerned by that and that it was part of the reason why they would not back down on their demands.

When contacted for comment, Eskom referred the Daily Maverick to their statement with regard to Zandspruit released on 30 March, issued on the basis of Eskom’s compliance with the Department of Labour’s Zandspruit Prohibition Conditions On Illegal Connections. This was apparently to suggest that Eskom’s stance had not changed since the day the letter from the Department of Labour came into effect.

“In accordance with the Department of Labour’s prohibition letter issued to Eskom Holdings Ltd on Friday, 11 March 2016, Eskom continues to remove all illegal and unsafe connections in Zandspruit. This has been done since Monday (14 March 2016). Accordingly, Eskom is fully aware that these connections do cause fatalities and are a risk to the health and safety of community members. This is in compliance with the DoL’s letter that prohibits Eskom from supplying power to Zandspruit due to the community’s illegal and unsafe connections in the area,” read the statement in part.

It also stated that the City of Johannesburg, Eskom and the Department of Energy will plan for the 889 community members who will be relocated to plot 42/91. The area would then be prioritised for electrification within the 2017/18 financial year.

Meanwhile, residents vowed to continue causing disruptions until their demand for electricity was met by officials and that until that happened, only over their dead bodies would they vote.

Zandspruit councillor Maureen Schneemann said she had been ill. “I have been in hospital for a shoulder repair and am at home, still unable to drive,” Schneemann said. DM

Photo: One of the protesters displays a placard that says it all about the community’s stance from the roof of a police armoured vehicle. (Bheki C Simelane)