Alexandra residents have begun gathering at the township’s stadium, ahead of their march to the City of Johannesburg’s regional offices in Sandton north of Johannesburg.
Residents took to the streets last week protesting over the mushrooming of illegal dwellings in the area and other service delivery failures.
Police have been deployed to the area. Community leader Sandile Mavundla says they will bring the city to a standstill.
“We will be little bit delayed due of the weather conditions but we are continuing to go to Sandton. We will be leaving here by half past 9 to Sandton. That’s the plan for the day, to go and submit the memorandum for the day.”
Despite chilly conditions, community leaders are warning that a shutdown in the region will continue if Mayor Herman Mashaba fails to urgently address residents’ concerns.
Motorists are advised to be vigilant of road closures in and around Sandton. Rob Byrne gave SABC news channel a traffic update.
“The Alex-Total-Shutdown protest is due to move today into some regional offices in Sandton. So I’m not sure what the rain is going to do to that plan and delay it. But you can expect some disruption from Alex getting into central Sandton today. This march is still on as far as we understand.”
Meanwhile, the African National Congress Councillors in Alexandra have described the Democratic Alliance’s decision to lay criminal charges against the ANC as a ‘blame game’.
The DA laid charges against the ANC on Saturday over its alleged incitement of violence, claiming they are the ones who are fueling the on-going protest in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg.
ANC Ward 105 Councillor, Tefo Raphadu says,“People are already gathering. The rain has made it hard for people to come out as early as they would have expected. But people are gathering. It is clear the DA is playing a blame game and is shifting the blame from Mashaba by opening a case against innocent people who are raising legitimate issues around what they are facing on a daily basis.”
