Cape Town - A pain in the neck as the City of Cape Town battles with a recurring trenches being dug on busy Baden Powell Drive by protesters.
This comes after a circulating video on social media platforms shows the city’s law enforcement attending to Baden Powell Drive after another trench was dug by protesters on Wednesday morning.
The City of Cape Town says the past three days, parts of Baden Powell have been closed, the site of violent protests in the vicinity of Mew Way.
“Protesters have taken to blockading the roadway with burning materials, and while the SAPS Public Order Policing has struggled to return the area to calm, Metro Police TRU teams have been tied up in the area, trying to assist and prevent the continued disruption,” said JP Smith, a Mayco member for safety and security.
“The reason for the protests has been made clear. Protesters are demanding electricity for the continuously expanding informal settlement area.
“It is always a tense period before any election period, where political parties create points of contention in a desperate attempt to gain their support. But knowledge truly is power and communities are better off knowing the truth,” Smith said on his Facebook page.
He further continued that the area, like the majority of those areas suffering the same fate, is under the supply of Eskom, controlled by the national government. Not local government.
“We are continuously wrestling with the national government to hand over all the areas within our municipality because we know we can do better. They refuse, and the reason is clear. Don't be fooled.
“Sadly, in this instance and so many others, the burning materials placed on the roadway are part of the strategy. The heat causes instant damage to the road surface, breaking down the protective bitumen layer.
“When it first rains, the underlying layer breaks away, causing potholes. This then becomes the next angle of attack for the same opposition parties,” Smith said.
Smith also said the coming elections are to elect the provincial and national governments that are to carry South Africa through the next five years.
“They are not local municipal elections, so don't be tricked by hollowed out political parties,” he said.