Central SA
Protests erupt after Matjhabeng cuts electricity─── 09:54 Thu, 17 Feb 2022
The residents of Reahola in the Free State barricaded the main road to the city of Welkom - Stateway Road - with stones and burning tyres.
These riotous protests brought traffic to a standstill after the Matjhabeng Municipality allegedly cut the electricity supply to their dwelling unit, the Reahola Complex. Talking to OFM News, the ward chancellor and leader of the opposition, Igor Scheurkogel, said the community leaders and municipal officials had negotiations that took hours before the municipality resorted to switching the electricity back on.
Scheurkogel has also blamed the Department of Human Settlements in the Free State for not being able to have workable systems.
He says protests at the Reahola Complex in Welkom's ward 35 is an escalation of the mismanagement of the board of directors through the Free State's Human Settlements, which has not allowed for these residents to get their own accounts at Matjhabeng. So, they were just physically not able to pay their rent and taxes, regardless of the illegal meters that have been installed in some of these houses.
OFM News/Ike Mosia
