Grabouw resident protest for better services

Cape Town - Despite a heavy rainstorm, around 1 000 Grabouw residents took part in a service delivery protest and march to the offices of the Theewaterskloof municipality on Wednesday.

They handed over a list of grievances to deputy mayor Mlulami Tshaka and town manager Anton Liebenberg.

The protest was organised by the Grabouw Civic Organisation (GCO) with support from the Western Cape ANC, SA Communist Party, and the Ses'Khona People's Rights Movement (SPRM).

“We have been waiting for 20 years now for an improvement in services. Houses that have been promised in some areas have not been built and those that have been completed are of such poor quality they now have to be repaired. Even that is taking too long,” said Margaret le Roux of the GCO.

“Other grievances included a poor and expensive electricity supply and bad road conditions. Our roads are full of potholes and nothing is being done about it,” she said.

Expelled former Cape Town councillor and leader of the SPRM, Andile Lili, said his organisation had been active in Grabouw and the Theewaterskloof area for a few weeks now and were at the scene to show support for the GCO.

“We have set our sights on the rural areas and have started recruiting more members in areas such as Grabouw, others towns in the Theewaterskloof and the Hermanus and De Doorns areas,” Lili said.

Barry Mitchell, second deputy provincial secretary of the SA Communist Party, told the protesters there would be no time to rest from now until the 2016 municipal elections.

“We need to work together and bring the municipalities back into ANC hands,” he said.

A platoon of the SA Police Service public order policing unit in Paarl was sent to Grabouw on Tuesday night and on Wednesday morning.

They stepped in when rocks were piled and tyres set alight on several roads in the Pineview area. A second platoon was sent to help.

The Pineview north entrance to Grabouw from the N2 was blocked until the protesters dispersed around noon.

Le Roux announced that ANC Western Cape leader Marius Fransman would visit the ANC office in Grabouw later in the afternoon to show support and receive a copy of the list of grievances.

- Sapa