Residents of Galeshewe Township in Kimberley say they are ready to continue with the shutdown of Kimberley as long as necessary.
They took to the streets again on Sunday burning tyres.
Residents are unhappy with Sol Plaatjie Mayor Mangaliso Matika who refuses to step down.
Matika was axed as mayor in a Democratic Alliance (DA) led motion of no confidence last week, during which African National Congress (ANC) councilors voted with the opposition.
However, Matika says the meeting was illegal.
Chaos erupted at a community meeting in Galeshewe. The meeting was planned to decide on the way forward regarding strike action. A group of people tried to disrupt this meeting. Police fired stun grenades. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/PW78awoNc4
— keith sayster (@sayster) July 22, 2018
Community leader Tumelo Mosikare says the shutdown in Kimberley will continue until Matika vacates the mayoral seat.
“The final word from the community is to shut down. The majority of the community is saying we should shutdown. We’ve advised the community that the councillors will go to court tomorrow to have Matika removed from the office. The community has decided that this has gone on far too long and he’s undermining the community by staying in the office while he was voted out. So the community has decided to shutdown Kimberley”.
Dineo Mahuti is one of the protesting residents: “The language of the shutdown is the language that our leaders understand. We do not support those who loot. We are practicing our democracy and we expect our leaders to come down and listen to us”.
