A Johannesburg councillor was allegedly assaulted, and another taken hostage by Soweto residents who are fed up with the lack of power supply. Johannesburg MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Service Department (EISD) Michael Sun condemned the attack and intimidation of councillors.
According to Sun, Councillor Lucas Lufutso of Ward 34 was physically beaten While Councillor Nompumelelo Mazibuko of ward 33 was taken hostage by angry residents who were demanding an end to the lengthy blackouts in their communities last Thursday. Mazibuko was released shortly after the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) and the police intervened.
“We understand the frustrations and can relate to the anger residents must be feeling due to a lack of electricity but that can never be an excuse to resort to violence.”
Sun said electricity in Soweto is directly supplied and managed by Eskom, which disconnected power to affected areas due to a lack of payment. He said parastatals refused to speak directly with city officials or residents on the lengthy outages and as a result, councillors end up in the firing line and have no power to intervene and end the rolling blackouts.
“I appeal to management of Eskom to not shrink their duties. They have a responsibility to engage affected residents in Soweto and cannot leave councillors to the mercy of communities frustrated by lengthy periods in the dark,” Sun said.
Source: News24, The Citizen, image from Twitter