WATCH: Roads closed, infrastructure destroyed in Mitchells Plain protests
Picture: City of Cape Town Picture: City of Cape Town
Cape Town - A protest in the Siqalo informal settlement in Mitchells Plain turned violent on Friday morning and roads had to be closed, said the City of Cape Town's law enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason.
"Significant damage to electrical infrastracture was done. One transformer, two distribution kiosks and one pole feeder cable were set alight and destroyed."
Earlier City of Cape Town traffic spokesperson Maxine Bezuidenhout said that roads affected in Mitchells Plain were:
- Jakes Gerwel Drive closed both ways between Morgenster Rd and the R300
- Highlands Dr closed from Fulham Rd till Jakes Gerwel Drive
- Weltevreden Rd closed between Varkensvlei Road & Jakes Gerwel Drive
In a tweet DA MPL Ricardo MacKenzie blamed “community leaders for starting a protest and preventing tens of thousands of people from # mitchellsplain getting to work.
We in #Siqalo this morning.
Absolutely terrible so called “community leaders” starting a protest and preventing tens of thousands of people from #mitchellsplain getting to work😡
Completely unacceptable and community leaders don’t know what trigged the latest protests. pic.twitter.com/kbbsiQ5Op4
— Ricardo Mackenzie (@ricardomackenzi)
Vanguard Drive closed both sides near the R300 in Siqalo, Mitchells Plain after a service delivery protest. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency/ANA
Meanwhile, in Hout Bay 150 people were marching peacefully in Main Road which has now been blocked off, Dyason said.