Johannesburg - KwaThema residents in Ekurhuleni organised a shutdown that saw all roads leading in and out of the city barricaded with burning tyres as locals protested over a prolonged electricity outages.
Roads remained closed from the early hours of the morning until the afternoon, and the community vowed to shut down until the issue of prolonged power outages was addressed.
People wanting to go to work and children who wanted to go to school could not exit their homes as the streets were covered with debris, bricks, trees, and other objects.
Some residents resorted to closing the N17 in both directions and started pelting stones at moving cars.
Traffic was badly affected as motorists were urged by EMPD members to use alternative routes as the situation was volatile.
A security office at KwaThema Customer Care Centre burnt, forcing fire fighters to extinguish a raging fire while it was raining.
Police were on the scene to curb the violence, and they maintained a presence until late yesterday.
A cloud of thick black smoke from burning tyres was seen blinding drivers as they drove in the area.
Thulani Mabaso said the shutdown was due to an interrupted power supply emanating from a faulty transformer.
"This means that the whole area is now relying on one of three transformers. The mayor must intervene," said Mabaso.
While residents took to the streets, a few of them saw an opportunity to loot a liquor store belonging to a big supermarket retailer and some spaza shops belonging to foreign nationals.
However, security personnel responded, and all hell broke loose as looters scrambled and ran in different directions, most abandoning the stolen goods and trolleys on the road.
Some unidentified people deliberately broke CCTV cameras with the aim of not being identified.
A witness and employee going by the name of Lucky said they saw a large group of men approaching the retailer. They managed to get closer and started hurling stones at the shop, the door, the CCTV cameras, and the alarm system.
"Some locals managed to break in and took some of the alcohol. An EMPD patrol car emerged, but it did not get close when some locals prevented it. However, I was with six security personnel and a manager. When we saw the TRT members, we tried to close the door to prevent those who were inside from getting out," he said.
Lucky said they did not open the store at all yesterday since they knew about the shutdown.
He said he was disgusted to hear some of the looters say they were hungry, and he also said he knows that the people are part of the community.
"How can you say you are hungry when you steal alcohol? That is a disgrace. These people are stupid; if they damage this shop, where will they buy the next day? The last time looting happened, people struggled to even get bread," Lucky said.
The City of Ekurhuleni urged residents to protest without destroying municipal infrastructure.
Some residents chastised Mayor Tania Campbell for failing to address their concerns.
As the streets of KwaThema burnt, she was seen at John Barrable Hall in Benoni, where the All Africa Badminton Tournament is taking place.
"This mayor does not care; she is relaxing while we as the community need her to bring solutions to the electricity challenges we face," Mandla Mdlalose said.
In a media statement, Campbell assured residents that the city is doing its utmost to restore power in the area.
"Load shedding is causing damage to municipal electricity infrastructure, which has resulted in extensive damage to one of the two transformers that service the area. This, coupled with illegal connections, has been the root cause of the outage," Campbell said.
"Poor weather conditions have delayed the energy department from testing the 25 MVA transformer to ensure that it is in full working order before switching the live feed back on."
She spoke against vandalism and the destruction of municipal infrastructure.
"While we are cognisant of the rights of residents to protest, we can never condone the vandalism and destruction of municipal infrastructure."
Communities need to take ownership of these assets and safeguard them, as they are crucial to service delivery, she said.
"I have deployed two MMCs to the area to relay the message that was given to ward councillors ahead of the outage in the area on behalf of the executive. I urge all residents of KwaThema to exercise their rights in a non-violent manner and within the ambit of the law," Campbell said.
Chief Superintendent Kelebogile Thepa of the EMPD confirmed the looting.
"Our teams were alerted that some community members wanted to loot KwaThema Square, but failed due to a heavy police presence.
“We are sending a stern warning to lawbreakers that we are going to arrest them. The shutdown started at 2am, and the CCC was partially burnt in the morning," she said.
The Star