GROUNDUP
A day of chaos – Swellendam protesters torch municipal offices over ‘racism’, service delivery neglect
Protesters were also angered by high electricity prices as violence flared and properties were attacked.
Swellendam was a ghost town on Wednesday after protesters torched the municipal offices and looted shops, complaining of racism and neglect.
In Majoks township, protesters were gathered on an open field chanting and singing “Thina silwela amalungelo ethu — we are fighting for our rights”.
Community leader Monwabisi Mtyanga said: “We have a problem here in Swellendam, the problem is racism”.
He said white and black Swellendam were divided by the N2 highway and the Swellendam municipality failed to meet the needs of black residents and shut them out.
“For instance, in 2018 the municipality sent ‘Red Ants’ to come and demolish shacks without informing the shack dwellers”, said Mtyanga.
He said another reason for the protests was high electricity bills, and the fact that out of the 2,500 shacks in the area, only 200 had electricity meter boxes and informal settlements did not have water.
“As a community, we are suffering, we can’t afford to buy electricity, we can’t afford to pay water because the prices are too high” Mtyanga stated.
“The problem is racism,” said community leader Monwabisi Mtyanga. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks)
He said protesters had asked the police to escort them to the municipal offices but instead, the police had told them the march was illegal and started shooting rubber bullets. Protesters had seen this as provocation, he said.
“The intention was not to burn the municipality offices; it was just to go and hand over the memorandum to the mayor,” said Mtyanga.
Shop manager Wajid Aziz said one of his customers had called him outside to warn him of people breaking into his shop. He said he and his brothers had been terrorised with a knife. “They tried to kill us, they had a big knife, so we ran away to our house.”
Aziz said protesters destroyed a Bangladeshi shop next to his. He said in the 10 years he has been running the shop, nothing like this had happened before. He said he did not know how he would support his family while the shop was not operating.
Shop owner Wajid Aziz said his shop was looted and he was threatened with a knife. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks)
Mtyanga distanced himself from the looting. He said the protesters had not intended to loot any shops. “We noticed that it is happening in some shops here and we went on to attack those guys that were looting”. He said he told the looters that they will be taken to the police.
Mtyanga said residents were now waiting to hear from the municipality about their demands.
Store windows and doors were stoned. This glass exhibit with a hand pump fire engine was damaged. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks)
The Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell acknowledged the right to protest and the protesters’ demands but said protests should not be violent or unlawful. He said damage to municipal infrastructure did not only affect the municipality but also residents.
“At this point, the priority is to protect data infrastructure in order for administrative and financial services to continue that are critical for service delivery to residents,” said Bredell. DM
There was a heavy police presence. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks)
First published by GroundUp.
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Step 1: Demand free services
Step 2: Refuse to register for said services as requested (so as to ensure the request is legitimate:
Step 3: Cry Racism
Step 4: Burn down the infrastructure and loot shops DEMANDING because you don’t want to comply with process
Step 4: Cry victim
step 5: Rinse and repeat
Exactly! If things so bad in the W Cape why not head back to Eastern Cape which is train wreck and presumably the reason they are all congregating in the W Cape. Makes you sick!
Well now, you’ve simply reinforced the point they have made about ‘racism’. Stone-throwing, looting and building-burning protests suck, no matter where they are made. But do you have demographic details of these citizens’ points of origin?
Spot on, Senzo!!
Exactly. The dog-whistle ‘they’. Who exactly is that? (A slippery slope to start talking about people heading back to where they come from.) Sadly, criminal elements will often (always?) use any demonstration to plunder.
send them back to the eastern cape
This action is a direct result of the age of impunity that has been demonstrated, encouraged and supported by the ANC. Demanding anything will not help. The money pot is running our fast now. These people need jobs, and jobs will not come under an ANC government. Policy is wrong, legislation in the most part flawed, and none of the pilots are qualified to lead.
One has to ask the question: what are these EC semigrants doing in a small town like Swellendam? I would imagine that there is very little employment to be had and that might only be seasonal at best and already covered by the local workers who have been there for many years. I hear that people are often bussed in to try and bolster the (ANC) voters in these areas. Could this be the case here?
I recently spent some time in rural EC and spoke to many young men about work and life. They said a lot of people leave to find jobs; the most go to Cape Town and to Grabouw “to pick apples”. There is a lot of migrant labour going to where unskilled jobs are available (like farming communities); the ANC bussing people in to bolster votes seems like a paranoid-white conspiracy.
Thank you, Mr. Boshoff. South Africans are free to travel wherever they like, for whatever reason they like. There seems to be a ‘Pass’ mentality resonating in these letters. Those days are OVER.
I find it concerning that these one-sided accounts are published. Surely Swellendam municipality should be allowed to comment on these allegations prior to publicity. The allegation of racism is vague and seems to be used as a blanket term for not getting what is demanded. Surely there’s a lot to unpack here, including the actual cost of service provision compared to what the community is/was charged.
Shame on you Daily Maverick for posting such biased articles under the masquerade of journalism! Was yesterday’s march legal?! Try and fathom the municipal request to register for FREE services and then the eventual outcome of burning and looting.
Go and look at some of the videos on social media and determine for yourself whether any of the marchers tried to stop the looting and plundering by their colleagues.
Consider in 2018 whether any of the structures erected were done so legally. Must be nice to move to a town on a whim and demand services without actually contributing.
Property rights is not respected in South Africa.
For goodness sake -stop using the “race card” you useless individuals! This is pure ANC politicising and incitement – always happens in the run up to an election!
Swellendam is strategically placed on the N2 and something happening on the road can cause serious disruption from the Worcester side and from the Somerset West side. My guess is that this is part of the organised sabotage of the DA Western Cape by the EFF/ANC RET factions to try to make DA ungovernable. Such as with the TAXI strike. The Western Cape should investigate the organising behind it . Not pure coincidence. No innocence in burning down the structures to provide services. I travelled on this road yesterday at about 11h30 and again from Worcester side at 16hoo. There were no protesters anywhere, the roads were open. But they manage to destroy expensive infrastructure so quickly. Malema believes in the matches ideas of Winnie Mandela. Denise Smit
up and yesterday the same thing happened in Mossel Bay – more of the same, organised crime by the anc and eff terrorists
so about R100m damage is somehow going to fix service delivery going forward? It seems the approach is ‘if I have nothing, then everybody will have nothing’
what is the political party make-up of this council? Will it change in 2024?
The march was well organised and planned. The marchers had ammunition and weapons and sticks were hidden and placed close to the municipal buildings in advance. The municipality and mayor have had many engagements with this community to address their needs in a sustainable manner yet they choose not to follow the suggested actions, e.g. register as indigents, as it has been turned into something else by the political rhetoric we see so often. Totally unfounded claims. Swellendam is a small town and there are limited opportunities. As with so many other small towns in the WC, we are flooded with people moving in from other provinces looking for opportunities. Racism exists everywhere, this can not be denied, but it is the ‘easy’ way to ‘justify’ these actions by these community members instead of understanding and tackling the real issues that we face in this country as a result of the mismanagement by our ANC led government