Service delivery protests spread to Soweto

12 April 2019 - 09:33 By Naledi Shange
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Service delivery protests have flared up in several parts of the country, with Pennyville in Soweto being the latest to be affected.
Service delivery protests have flared up in several parts of the country, with Pennyville in Soweto being the latest to be affected.
Image: 123RF/Duncan Noakes

Following President Cyril Ramaphosa's visit to protest-hit Alexandra township in the north of Johannesburg, where he promised residents housing, residents of Pennyville in Soweto on Friday embarked on their own protest, saying the same promises were made to them several years ago.

They claim that the government is yet to deliver. 

Residents of Pennyville took to the streets to blockade the area's main roads with burning tyres and debris.

Similar scenes played out in the northern parts of the province as residents of townships in Pretoria - specifically Soshanguve and Hammanskraal - also embarked on protests. 

In Soshanguve, the protest action resulted in bloodshed. Protesters reportedly expressed displeasure at the police's alleged use of force when they responded to alleged looting. Two protesters were reportedly killed and a police officer was injured.

Police commissioner Khehla Sitole has called for calm. “I call on the community of Soshanguve to be calm as public violence is no solution to any problem, but rather a crime which is punishable by law,” said Sitole. 

"A multidisciplinary task team, which includes crime intelligence and seasoned detectives, has been mobilised to investigate the attack on police, the death of the two protesters and the burning of the truck and private home.

"We have to bring those responsible to book as such behaviour is criminal and unacceptable.”

Meanwhile, in Steynsrus in the Free State, there were reports of trucks being set alight amid fresh service-delivery protests in the area.

The protests are believed to have started in Kroonstad before spreading to the Steynsrus.


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