Residents of Slovo Park informal settlement near Eldorado Park burnt a truck and looted others during a service delivery protest today. The truck was parked next to N12 for a while when it was targeted early this morning. "We are fighting for our rights," said one of the protesters.

RESIDENTS TIRED OF PIT TOILETS 

Nthabiseng Sejake, one of the women who has been staying in the area since 1992 said they are tired of the bad-smelling pit toilets. "We are fighting for our rights, we haven’t seen our government working for us since we started staying here in 1992. In all those years I have been voting. I don’t even know what I’m voting for," Sejake said. She said they no longer want the pit toilets they have been subjected to all these years ago. "We are sick and tired of those smelly toilets. We are always coughing because of them. There is nothing going right here. We were promised things that were never fulfilled over and over again, and now it has to change," she added. Another resident who spoke on condition of anonymity said, "We want houses, running water in the yards, flushing toilets. We have water pipes but we installed them ourselves," said another resident who spoke anonymously.

BLOCKING THE HIGHWAY

Residents told ZiMoja that they decided to block the N12 to get Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s attention. "Panyaza is being protected more than this freeway, so we’d rather be here because we will get their attention. He should be the one to come here." Another protester Abongile Luka said they just need the area to be developed like other places. Bridget Sifuba said it was painful for her as a woman to see her children suffer due to a lack of basic services. "We are the ones who give birth to these children who end up dying in these pit toilets. We are tired we just need the government to come to see for themselves what we are talking about," she said. Police fired rubber bullets to keep residents far away from the road. But the road was blocked from morning until midday, when police and Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) workers cleared it. Police are still monitoring the situation.

TEENAGER DIED DURING PROTESTS

The demonstrations turned violent leading to the death of 16-year-old Karabo Chaka on Monday. It is alleged he was killed by stray bullets fired by the police when they were dispersing the crowd. Gauteng Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo said the investigations into the death of Karabo has been transferred to Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID). "The cause of death cannot be confirmed at this stage. The case will be transferred to Ipid for further investigation," Masondo said.