The normally busy road, which separates the Caleb Motshabi and the Klipfontein farmstead on either side, was barricaded with burning tyres, road infrastructure, and bits of refuse strewn on the road.  

Bloemfontein police spokesperson, Thabo Covane, tells OFM News that the protesting group is unhappy with the incumbent ward councillor and demand a rerun of the election process. Covane further adds that the protesting group wants to be addressed by the  Coordinator of the Interim Provincial Committee (IPC) in the Free State ANC, Paseka Nompondo, and the Premier of the province, Sisi Ntombela.

It’s said that the protesters began barricading the road as early as 03:00 in the morning, but have since been stopped in their tracks. Public order policing is at the scene and arrangements to have the road cleared are presently underway. Seven protestors have been arrested in connection with the incident and will appear before the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on 4 March 2022.

In July 2021, OFM News reported that tensions in the aforementioned informal settlements were brewing over the allocation of housing sites. Impoverished citizens who have called Caleb Motshabi (also known as “Dinaweng”) their temporary home for some time, said they are forced to watch helplessly as “strangers” allegedly score housing sites ahead of them at the Klipfontein Farm across from the R702 road which merges into the M3, despite not being on the list. At the time some of these disgruntled residents barricaded a portion of the road with rocks, demanding that they be prioritised on the list for sites.

READ MORE: Tensions brew over Bloemfontein housing issues

Mangaung Metro purchased the farm to ensure that residents who have built shacks on top of major Bloem Water pipelines that endanger their lives, can be legally assigned to safer sites. 

Klipfontein resident and activist, Tefo Phakiso, alleged at the time that there was some corruption at play with regards to the allocation of housing sites. The Mangaung Metro never responded to these allegations despite media queries from OFM News on the matter.

OFM News