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Communities urged to engage in peaceful protests

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KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Cooperative Governance, Sipho Hlomuka has encouraged people to engage government stakeholders peacefully if they are dissatisfied. Hlomuka was addressing the community of Mahhehle at Ixopo in southern KwaZulu-Natal during the launch of a provincial campaign encouraging responsible and peaceful protesting.

The province has been marred by violent service delivery protests, which led to the destruction of infrastructure.

According to Municipal IQ – a specialised local government data and intelligence organisation – Gauteng and KwaZulu experienced the most service delivery protests last year, followed by the Free State. The violence and looting which started in KwaZulu-Natal and spread to Gauteng in July last year, cost the country about R50 billion rand.

Hlomuka says communities should exercise their right to protest responsibly.

“But if you have taken a decision to protest let’s have a peaceful protest or march where you won’t destroy any infrastructure. Just imagine destroying a school. We’re destroying the clinic, we are digging the road because we want electricity. Tomorrow, you will get electricity, but you still need to fix the road, you still need to repair the clinic, still need to repair the school. In case your mother or your family member fell sick that means she won’t be able to go to the clinic because you have destroyed the clinic,” says Hlomuka.

Hlomuka says fixing infrastructure destroyed during violent protests, costs government millions of rands.

“The province is losing more millions because of the communities that are destroying the infrastructure. That’s why we’re saying let’s work together to ensure that we have a peaceful march or peaceful protest because the more you destroy, the more you are not going to receive service delivery.”

Community members hope the campaign will make a difference, but say when they try to engage government peacefully their grievances fall on deaf ears.

“People end up embarking on violent protests because of lack of service delivery. Sometimes we wait for five years without services. As voters, we have every right to receive basic services,” says one community member.

“We have realised that the language that government understand is protest. Even the electricity that we have was only installed after we embarked on a protest and marched to the municipality in iXopo,” says another community member.

Chairperson of the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders, Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza says communities should be educated about the disadvantages of destroying infrastructure during service delivery protests.

“We believe that the information is power,  once you give people information these protest that result in violence, will be stopped because most of the time people are doing these violence because they lack information, if councillors , Izinduna, and traditional councils work together to ensure that they give information, we believe we will have a peaceful province. And we must understand if the province of KwaZulu-Natal is peaceful the whole South Africa will be at peace,” says Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza.

The campaign will be rolled out throughout the province, giving special attention to areas prone to service delivery protests.

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