The city of Cape Town has reached a "crossroads" over the toilets destroyed in Khayelitsha this week, mayor Dan Plato said on Tuesday.
"We can no longer continue on this path of confrontation and sabotage," he told a city council budget meeting.
"Money that is badly needed for service delivery is wasted through damage for the benefit of certain agendas."
Earlier in the day, the ANC Youth League, which led the destruction of the controversial toilet structures on Monday, threatened widespread vandalism in the city in protest over service delivery.
Plato said that on the one hand the community had repeatedly confirmed it wanted the city to continue with the provision of the toilets.
"On the other hand, they bow to pressure from the ANC Youth League and other disruptive elements to disown the work and vandalise the equipment.
"Mr Speaker, we cannot continue in this way. I am therefore asking the ANC as the governing party to publicly confirm by close of business on Thursday 27 May that they will constrain their Youth League.
"They must prevent the league from intimidating the community and from organising this resistance and damage to public property paid for with public money."
Plato did not say what would happen if the ANC did not meet the deadline.
The controversy is over toilets installed by the city in the Makhaza area of Khayelitsha.
Residents apparently agreed to build enclosures themselves, but this was never done.
The city put up corrugated iron structures around the toilets on Monday, but members of the ANCYL and some community members immediately knocked them down, and taunted Plato to arrest them.
The league demanded concrete structures instead.
"We can no longer continue on this path of confrontation and sabotage," he told a city council budget meeting.
"Money that is badly needed for service delivery is wasted through damage for the benefit of certain agendas."
Earlier in the day, the ANC Youth League, which led the destruction of the controversial toilet structures on Monday, threatened widespread vandalism in the city in protest over service delivery.
Plato said that on the one hand the community had repeatedly confirmed it wanted the city to continue with the provision of the toilets.
"On the other hand, they bow to pressure from the ANC Youth League and other disruptive elements to disown the work and vandalise the equipment.
"Mr Speaker, we cannot continue in this way. I am therefore asking the ANC as the governing party to publicly confirm by close of business on Thursday 27 May that they will constrain their Youth League.
"They must prevent the league from intimidating the community and from organising this resistance and damage to public property paid for with public money."
Plato did not say what would happen if the ANC did not meet the deadline.
The controversy is over toilets installed by the city in the Makhaza area of Khayelitsha.
Residents apparently agreed to build enclosures themselves, but this was never done.
The city put up corrugated iron structures around the toilets on Monday, but members of the ANCYL and some community members immediately knocked them down, and taunted Plato to arrest them.
The league demanded concrete structures instead.
- Sapa
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