Police used tear gas on protesters who blocked traffic in Vusi Mzimele (Bellair) Road on Tuesday morning.
|||Durban - Police used tear gas on protesters who blocked traffic in Vusi Mzimele (Bellair) Road on Tuesday morning.
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said three people were arrested for public violence.
Metro police were redirecting traffic while the SAPS were trying to disperse disgruntled Cato Crest residents in Ward 30 who want their ward councillor, Zanele Ndzoyiya, removed.
Metro police spokesman, Superintendent Eugene Msomi, said Vuzi Mzimele (Bellair) Road would only reopen once the fires had been extinguished and the rubble cleared.
A resident, who did not want to be named for fear of being victimised, said she was away in the Eastern Cape and returned on Monday afternoon.
“We don’t know why this is happening. We’re being harassed by police as if we’re part of this protest, which began last night, while we’re not,” the resident said.
Another woman had injured her leg while running away from a police officer who reportedly aimed tear gas at a group of people watching the chaos.
She said all residents were being punished for something a handful had started.
Last month, residents blocked Vusi Mzimele Road demanding that Ndzoyiya step down because they claimed she “rigged” the elections.
Ndzoyiya said today that she had not been contacted by the community and was unaware of the complaints.
“No one has come to me. I don’t know the reasons behind the chaos,” she said.
Ndzoyiya said she did not elect herself.
“It had to have been the people who elected me.
“There has been no instruction from the ANC for me to step down as a councillor.”
This protest is unrelated to Monday’s demonstration in which King Cetshwayo (Jan Smuts) Highway was closed off.
Cato Crest residents of Ward 101 had gone on a rampage, using rubble and burning tyres to blockade the highway and threw objects at passing vehicles.
Residents claimed that RDP houses in the area were being allocated to people who were not Cato Crest residents, and that ward committee members were selling these houses.
They were meeting their ward councillor, Mzi Ngiba, on Tuesday morning.
“It’s been a long time since the councillor made promises and nothing has materialised,” said resident Ndabo Mzimela.
He said residents decided to take to the streets after some were removed from their shacks that were destroyed to make room for RDP houses.
“They don’t care whether you are home or not, they just destroy your shack,” Mzimela said.
An elderly man, who cannot walk, had to explain to a group of angry protesters gathered in his yard how he had been allocated an RDP house.
Police had to intervene, telling protesters to get off the man’s property and report their issues to their councillor.
Community police forum chairman S’bu Nguse said the residents who protested and destroyed municipal assets at the same time had been dubbed the “Marikana gang” as this was not the first protest of this kind they had staged.
“They went around burning and kicking down portable toilets that they also use,” he said.
Nguse said it made no sense at all for these residents to destroy things they used and needed.
Ngiba met the residents’ representative on Monday.
He said most of the residents who had made these allegations did not own the shacks, and were renting.
“We can’t allocate houses to tenants,” Ngiba said.
He said before development began people owned five or six shacks each and they rented these out.
“We discussed these issues and we will look into how they can be assisted at another meeting today,” Ngiba said.
Zwane said they would continue to monitor the area on Tuesday.
Daily News