Ekurhuleni condemns torching of customer care centre

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Pretoria - The City of Ekurhuleni has condemned the torching of a customer care centre in Winnie Mandela Park, Tembisa.

Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Mzwandile Masina said the centre which was torched on Monday night, had recently been opened to serve the community and provide basic services.

“The unfortunate acts of criminality undermine government efforts to ensure that quality services are readily available in all communities. Whilst we note and respect the rights of communities to protest, this shouldn’t be used to opportunistically sabotage public goods. As the City we condemn this behaviour in the strongest possible terms,” said the Mayor on Tuesday.

The City through the Siyaqhuba service delivery response team, together with the Office of the Chief Whip Jongizizwe Dlabathi, visited Winnie Mandela Park last week.

The visit included a community imbizo for community members to raise concerns.

“Such a platform could have been best to raise and address burning issues. It can’t be correct that a two-day power outage justifies the burning and vandalizing of a recently built customer care centre,” said Mayor Masina.

Meanwhile, the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department is working to investigate the criminal acts and restore order.

In addition, the City will meet with community leaders to assess the situation and resolve genuine matters arising from the community.  – SAnews.gov.za