Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse has asked the Soweto protesters to give her 14 days to respond to their demands. This comes after grieved Soweto residents led by Operation Dudula leader Nhlanhla Lux Dlamini marched to the mayor’s office to deliver their memorandum on Tuesday 21 June 2022.
“We will go through everything in the memorandums, and we ask for 14 days to have a discussion among ourselves. At the end of the 14 days, we will call your leadership and give them a progress report on how the discussions were going and what the turnaround plan will be,” Phalatse told the residents.
Protesters submitted a memorandum of demands to Phalatse outside the civic centre in Braamfontein on Tuesday afternoon. Residents want Phalatse to commit to better service delivery and to find a solution to scrap the old debt from Eskom which is affecting the people of Soweto who cannot afford to pay for electricity.
The elderly women from Soweto were given an opportunity to speak directly to the mayor about the problems they face as the electricity hikes have affected the people of Soweto and more especially the pensioners. The protesters also blame the abundant informal settlements for a rise in crime.
Phalatse said the MMC for environment and infrastructure services, Michael Sun, would handle all issues relating to electricity; the MMC for housing, Mlungisi Mabaso, would handle informal settlements; and the MMC for community safety, David Tembe, would deal with safety issues.
The community of Protea South did not join the march to the mayor’s office, instead they resorted to blocking roads and causing business disruptions.
