Approximately 2 000 residents of Zwelihle, Hawston and Mount Pleasant made their way through the streets of Hermanus as they unite in protest against high municipal tariffs.They will march through the Central Business District to the offices of the Overstrand Municipality, where they are expected to hand a memorandum of their demands over to its leadership.
Earlier this morning thousands more gathered in Masakhane where they were addressed by Land Party Leader-in-Chief Gcobani Ndzongana, who said municipal officials agreed there should not be a repeat of 2018, when the Overstrand, more specifically Hermanus, erupted into service delivery- and land-related riots.
“My message to them was very clear: people do not have water nor do they have electricity. People are unemployed but you (the municipality) expect them to pay for services. If you can sort those problems out I can assure you our people will remain calm and peaceful.
“I can see people have committed to that. We will not allow provocation from the police or anyone. We are not going to allow the police to use rubber bullets or any force against our people, or else we will allow our people to retaliate. When you act with violence my people will respond with violence, and I will be the first one to take a bullet.”
Ndzongana also called on protesters not to provoke the police or other law-enforcement agencies.
He added: “Our people want water to be opened (reconnected), electricity must be sorted. We don’t want to fight, we want justice. You can survive without food but you can’t survive without water.
He concluded by requesting people to “remain orderly” as they marched through the town of Gansbaai to the police station on other side of town to hand over the memorandum to authorities.
Some of the demands are that Overstrand Municipality abolish the drip policy where water supply is cut if property owners’ municipal accounts are overdue, that vulnerable families and pensioners receive permanent indigent grants and that the existing electricity tariffs be revised.
This march followed one held in Gansbaai on 7 July, when protesters handed a list of grievances over to the municipality. Overstrand Executive Mayor Archie Klaas met with the communities of Blompark and Masakhane in Gansbaai last week to give them feedback on the progress the municipality made in response to the demands.
The community was, however, not satisfied with the feedback, and it was announced that a five day-long protest action would start on Monday 4 August in both Gansbaai and Hermanus.
* This article will be updated as more developments unfold throughout the day.
