Pretoria - Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Lechesa Tsenoli has strongly condemned the violent protests in Boitumelong, Bloemhof, in the North West.
Residents, who on Monday barricaded the N12 linking Johannesburg and Cape Town, also damaged private and public property, which resulted in other community members being displaced from their homes.
Protests in the area started last Wednesday. Municipal offices and houses belonging to some councillors have also been torched and damaged.
“Violent protests such as these are self-defeating and undemocratic, and set us back collectively as a nation. We call on the South African Police Service to ensure that appropriate action is taken against the criminal perpetrators of these actions,” said Minister Tsenoli.
He said South Africa’s democratic and developmental local government system provides many forums in which community grievances can be aired.
When local government fails, there are many national and provincial government channels which can and must be pursued, the minister said.
“Members of this community have turned too easily to crime and violence as an avenue to express their frustrations. The damage that is done to national infrastructure such as a road, or local infrastructure such as a municipal building, may take years to repair.
“We need to take collective care of our democracy, which is still in its infancy. The hardening of attitudes that we see when crowds become reckless and criminal intent triumphs over the structures of our hard fought democracy, exacts a price that is too high for us as a country,” he said.
Minister Tsenoli urged disgruntled community members to display leadership and integrity at all times, and to seek peaceful and constructive solutions to community problems.
“Communities that cannot achieve this will be drawn into an endless cycle of crime and violence, which will prevent democracy and development from taking hold and flourishing.
“We have it within all of us to help make South Africa a better place, and we ask all South Africans to have in mind the legacy that we pass on to a future generation of South Africans when we take reckless actions with terrible consequences,” he said. - SAnews.gov.za
