Let them eat bread: ANC gave chips, bread and T-shirts to protesters, says DA-led uMngeni

The DA-led uMngeni local municipality on Tuesday accused the ANC of fuelling protest action on the R617 in Mpophomeni in KwaZulu-Natal.

uMngeni mayor Chris Pappas posted footage on social media showing ANC-marked vehicles distributing T-shirts, packets of chips and bread to protesters who are up in arms about electricity meter audits.

“There is clear evidence the disruptions are politically organised. It is no longer about electricity. The municipality urges residents to come forward with information, videos and pictures of those involved. The municipality is keeping evidence of those involved and will, where necessary, lay criminal charges and/or take disciplinary steps,” he said.

ANC Moses Mabhida regional spokesperson Njabulo Mtolo denied the allegations.

“The African National Congress, in Moses Mabhida region, is annoyed, but also not surprised by the petty politicking of uMngeni municipality mayor Chris Pappas, who has chosen to deflect blame from the mess his municipality created,” he said.

“Undermining these genuine grievances as an instigation of the ANC exposes mayor Chris Pappas and the DA government’s lack of will to address issues in black communities.

“The mayor should be mindful of the importance of face-to-face communication and general consultation in every community under uMngeni municipality, regardless of their status and the colour of their skin.”

Mtolo condemned the violence.

“While the ANC has a deep understanding of the seriousness and the impact of this negligence of uMngeni municipality on the lives of the people, we vehemently condemn the use of violence and the destruction of property.

“As part of the way forward on this matter, the ANC will engage community leaders and the municipality to find an urgent constructive and decisive solution,” he added.

Meanwhile, the municipality announced its offices would be closed on Tuesday morning as the R617 and Mandela highway remained blocked by angry residents.

“Protesters are refusing to allow the uMngeni municipality to conduct an electricity meter audit in their houses. This is a condition of restoring electricity that has been out due to a blown transformer. The transformer was overloaded by illegal connections,” said Pappas.

Police were at the R617 and Mandela highway intersection searching vehicles, he said.

“This will not stop the protests in the long run. Thank you to the community police forums, SAPS members and private security for working early into the hours of the morning. Almost a year to date after the politically motivated July 2021 riots and again law-abiding communities are coming together to protect life and livelihoods. Please may I ask that we all restrain our actions so as not to incite further disruptions.”

Pappas said the municipality would go to court to compel public order policing to act if they failed to do so.

“We will hold them to costs and damages for not doing enough to intervene if necessary. Please note that there is a difference between your station-based police member and our traffic officers compared to the public order policing officers. Normal SAPS members are prohibited from conducting public order work. Let us support our local SAPS members to do the best they can, given the restrictions. Public order policing must do what they are trained for. 

“This is also to advise residents that the municipality is incurring what would otherwise be known as 'irregular expenditure'. This is because we are having to deploy more security and hire vehicles for our traffic police ... to increase our ability to respond.

“We are not able to go through the usual procurement mechanism due to time constraints and the emergency situation. We will disclose full expenditure once the situation returns to normal,” said Pappas.

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