Pages

20110604

QwaQwa tribe attack new ANC-councillors

Afrikaner journalists threatened with knives by Qwaqwa tribal villagers' anti-ANC-protestors

2011-06-01 - A newsteam from Volksblad was threatened with knives by a large, violent group of protestors who torched an unpopular ANC-councillor’s home in three days of rioting against the ANC’s undemocratic rule of Maluti-A-Phofung village in the tribal region of Qwa-Qwa. Pictures: Volksblad’s  journalist Willem van der Berg

QwaQwa antiANC protestors threaten white journalists June32011

The ANC-councillors were installed amidst violent protests - very similar to the uproar in other towns such as Brits, north of the Hartbeespoort -  where tens of thousands of ANC-members have also become equally angered by the undemocratic way in which the newly-appointed ANC-councillors were 'elected' through backroom-negotiations. Beeld reported that the situation at Qwaqwa has been tense for the past three days: with residents barring the access roads with stone- and burning-tyre barricades.

Some of these aggressive groups were persuaded with 'toll-payments' to let the vehicles through but many residents had to walk for kilometres because taxis refused to enter the danger zone.  Volksblad journalist Willem van der Berg writes that their news-team also was awaited by knifemen who refused to let them go through to the Tsheseng tribal village's police station - which was placed under siege.
Volksblad said 'after a long exchange of comments' the news team finally was let through. The police-station is under siege until police releases residents who were arrested the day before because of public violence - however the cops refused to release them and chased the crowd off with close-range rubber-bullets and tear gas.

QwaQwa barred highway protests against ANCmunicipality

Since Monday the protestors have been at large in a very organised way,  blocking the access roads to stop police-reinforcement from rescuing the local cops, under siege at the police station. Residents also are torching various municipal buildings such as the Riverside youth centre; but also burnt down  ANC-town councillor Joshua Mbongo's house after ordering his family leave it. Nobody has been injured in this three-day melee as far as is known. Mbongo is one of the hugely-unpopular ANC-appointed councillors which the close-knit tribal community is very unhappy about.

The residents accuse the ANC of 'cheating them and misleading them' . "They told us that if we voted ANC we would not get Mbongo and those other failures as town councillors again. Yet here they are again. They then said we 'could submit our formal complaints right after the election and they would pay attention to them  but they didn't and that's why we are fighting.'  Volksblad was unable to contact the police or local officials. They report however that 'a large number of QwaQwa residents now are in the local police jail. 

Pictures: Volksblad’s  journalist Willem van der Berg
http://www.volksblad.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Qwaqwa-steeds-in-oproer-20110601

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.