Houses burn as the President laughs about his firepool

Cape Town - Violence flared again in Marikana informal settlement on Friday, after residents torched the home of Leticia Mali on Symphony Way.

The act prompted retaliation by residents of Lower Crossroads who, in turn, set ablaze a shack of the man they accused of being behind the attack on Mali’s house.

The conflict has raged throughout the week, starting as a protest prompted by the cutting of illegal electricity connections to the informal settlement.

Four municipal trucks and five other vehicles were set alight, and a 68-year-old man died after his Toyota Hilux was stoned on the N2 on Thursday. Police vehicles were also stoned.

Angry Marikana protesters torched Mali’s home in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The Lower Crossroads residents then retaliated, claiming they were being held to ransom by the informal settlement residents.

“We are angry because we don’t have services to give them, and we are not responsible for them.

“So we don’t understand why they are taking their anger out on us and our homes.

“They have started this fight and we will not succumb to their ludicrous behaviour. These are our homes and we have worked hard for them,” one angry Lower Crossroads resident said.

Mali’s home was petrol-bombed by angry Marikana residents who claimed it was unfair that they were stuck in shacks with no services, while their neighbours lived comfortably.

Mali said some illegal electricity connections had run to Marikana from her house, but that she had cut them off due to the blackouts.

“They got angry and they threw a petrol bomb through the roof of the bedroom.

“The fire spread fast because there was no ceiling in that room,” she said.

Marikana community leader Nocks Gijana countered that it was not residents of the informal settlement who set her house alight, although she acknowledged there was bad blood between the two neighbourhoods.

Police spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk said late on Friday that the area remained tense, and police were monitoring the situation.

“This office can confirm that police action was taken during an ongoing protest in the Philippi East area.

“Property was damaged, but an accurate account of damages cannot no be issued at this stage,” he said.

- Saturday Argus