"ANC must accept to be divorced. I used to love it, but now the silver cup is broken."
This were the words of Thambeka Dlamini from Dukathole in Germiston, Ekurhuleni.
Thambeka (61) was among the angry residents who took to the street and closed the main roads to Dukathole Stadium.
The angry residents stopped the ANC's election event by protesting outside the stadium on Saturday, 4 May.
They are angry because they've been without electricity for a month.
The Bavumile Vilakazi Zonal ANC branch was supposed to host a door-to-door and a public meeting to lure residents ahead of the 29 May Election.
However, residents blocked the streets with stones and burnt tyres on the main road before the event started.
Residents stood their ground and said no event would be held at the stadium.
Angry residents stopped the ANC's election event by protesting outside Dukathole Stadium in Germiston, Ekurhuleni on Saturday, 4 May. They were angry because they've been without electricity for a month. Video by Happy Mnguni @dailysunsa pic.twitter.com/zwiSpqRGHC
— happy mnguni (@happy_mnguni) May 4, 2024
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Thambeka said they have been without electricity since 5 April, and the water supply has been cut.
"We have been voting for the ruling party since 1994 but don't see changes, no houses, and better life. We get nothing from them.
"We brought them to power, and they have forgotten about us," she said.
Thambeka said it's a shame that the elderly must fetch water a few kilometres away from their homes.
"I'm an asthmatic patient. I must go out to get water.
"ANC must accept that the love is over; we need a new party that will take care of the people and ensure they attend to service delivery issues," she said.
A community leader, Michael Brown, said they have decided to barricade streets with stones and burning tyres near the stadium.
"We are tired of empty promises. The ward councillor has been telling us lies, saying he will update us about the damaged transformer and that it will be fixed.
"There is no event to be hosted without service delivery here," he said.
Another resident, Sizwe Dlamini, said they have been promised heaven and earth.
"They don't care about us. We don't have electricity or jobs.
"We have elderly people. Some of them are sick, and how can they live without electricity? These people must fix the transformer," said Sizwe.
Another resident, Bernard Morris, was spitting fire, saying Dukathole is one of the oldest townships that has been neglected.
"The political parties are only seen when they want votes, yet there is no service delivery.
"This is not a playing ground; we don't want them to campaign in our area, finish and klaar," said Bernard.
Ward councillor Ntuthuzelo Mpambani says a transformer was damaged due to illegal electricity connections at Dukathole in Germiston, Ekurhuleni. Video by Happy Mnguni @dailysunsa pic.twitter.com/b3wR9yrXGR
— happy mnguni (@happy_mnguni) May 5, 2024
The ward councillor, Ntuthuzelo Mpambani, said they were supposed to have an election campaign at the stadium.
"We called our leadership to come and address some of the service delivery issues we are struggling to deal with.
"Unfortunately, I received a call while I was on my way to the event and was informed about the protest.
"I went to the energy depot to get feedback about the damaged transformer, which was burnt due to an illegal connection," said Mpambani.
He said the officials have been working hard to fix the transformer.
"The issue of water is a lie. People are getting free water here. We can go to their taps to prove it. That matter was never raised with me.
"What is consistently raised is the issue of electricity, and we have such a problem because of informal settlements around this area that have no electricity," said Dlamini.
He said they illegally connected to the transformer, and time and again, the energy system collapsed.
"This led to the transformers getting burnt because of illegal connections."
He said they had to cancel the event because of the protest.
