High on the agenda for these residents, is the N14 road project which is being handled by the provincial government.

The municipal spokesperson, Willie Maphosa, tells OFM News that residents want the locals to be employed in the project, thus they took to the streets yesterday. He also says some in the community who feels that they must be employed are the ones who are up in arms, protesting against the development of the road project in that area.

Maphosa says the group of people were taken on board throughout the development of the project until the provincial government, which is the main contractor, became involved. He adds that on Friday 7 February 2020 the council from the municipality appointed certain people to work on the project. “So those who were involved in the talks feel they are owed jobs and employment but for such jobs, there are processes for appointing people and all the people cannot be employed at the same time,” he adds.

He says people who could not be catered for are the ones who are protesting, disrupting traffic and so on. In September 2019, angry residents barricaded the N14 highway with rocks and burning tyres. No damage to property or any arrests have been reported thus far.

OFM News