Nine suspects were arrested following the protest action that occurred since Tuesday.
It’s believed that a group by the name of
Intlungu Yasematoytoymbeni movement are demanding water and temporary toilets
in all new informal settlements. The movement, in a statement said that they
also want to share their unhappiness about alleged threats made by the City of
Cape Town to evict land invaders.
Two arrests were made in
Kraaifontein on Wednesday. Seven arrests were made the following day, six of
those were in Delft and one in Kraaifontein.
The suspects have been charged with public
violence and are expected to appear in the Blue Downs magistrate’s court soon.
The Western Cape’s Community Safety MEC, Albert
Fritz, says the Court Watching Brief Unit will be requested to monitor these
cases for any SAPS inefficiencies, resulting in the case being struck off the
court roll.
Fritz welcomed the arrests.
“I welcome the arrests made as they send a
strong message to anybody wishing to destabilise the province through violent
protest action. Let me be clear that citizens have a constitutional right to
peaceful protest, whatever the issue may be but when these protest actions
become a pretext for violence and blatant criminality they cannot then be
hidden behind the notion of unhappiness with service delivery.”
The MEC claims the protests are politically
motivated.
“In fact, based on information that we have
received, the real intention behind these so-called service delivery protests
is to destabilise communities, and are politically motivated. These actions
actually halt the crucial services into those affected communities including
sanitation, education, healthcare and transport which our citizens dependent
on.” Fritz added.
“The modus operandi is to wear SAPS’ resources
thin by appearing sporadically in different locations. I was however pleased to
hear this morning that all roads including the N2, Hindle Way, Mew Way and
other affected roads were clear,” said MEC Fritz.
Done By: Mitchum George
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