Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba was accompanied by more than 15 metro police vehicles at the city's final Integrated Development Plan (IDP) community meeting in Protea South‚ Soweto on Tuesday.
This comes after a similar meeting held in Midrand ended in a violence‚ as councillors and representatives from opposing parties clashed.
A DA councillor was hit with a brick on the head‚ while an EFF member was also injured.
Mashaba blamed a group of ANC members for causing the trouble‚ but the party vehemently denied the allegation saying other political parties were to blame.
story_article_left1
On Tuesday Mashaba’s office claimed that a message had been sent to ANC members‚ calling on them to prevent peaceful public consultations.
However Tuesday’s meeting went ahead as planned.
“Since identifying that there are some elements determined to disrupt these sessions‚ we ensured that we communicate the purpose of these consultations to people. We also ensured that we get all the councillors in the respective areas to take responsibility for their people and mobilised the police to protect the people‚” Mashaba said.
He has laid criminal charges against those believed to be responsible for the violence in Midrand.
“In regards to the incident that occurred in Midrand‚ we have opened a criminal case against those people responsible for damage to property and injuring fellow members. And we are expecting the national government to ensure that appropriate measures are taken‚” Mashaba said.
At Tuesday’s meeting‚ members of the community appeared unfazed by the large contingent of metro police vehicles.
Instead they told the panel of city officials of concerns about water‚ sanitation and electricity issues. Amongst the numerous submissions by the public was a document that was compiled by concerned community members of Dobsonville‚ Soweto.
The community demanded that old Eskom accounts should be written off as promised by the city and water metres to be relooked at‚ as a result of the billing system being incorrect at times.
The community demanded the implementation of a 24 hours clinic service‚ along with improved security measures throughout Dobsonville.
Mashaba reassured the community that his administration will ensure that their service delivery needs are met.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 