RESIDENTS signed a petition on Wednesday, 24 January to vent their frustrations about the service delivery in their community.
On Thursday, 1 January, Councillor Desmond Buitenkant came to address the residents about the issues they had raised.
The incident happened at Ergo Road in Brakpan, Ekurhuleni.
But the residents were not satisfied with his response. The meeting turned ugly and other angry residents allegedly set his car on fire.
The councillor watched in despair as his car burnt in front of his eyes. The stranded councillor had to get a lift home.
Community leader Sifiso Skosana said: "What makes people take to the streets are the empty promises they receive from the municipality. We are not included in any housing plan and the Mkhanqwa informal settlement has been in existence for more than three decades."
Skosana also said the number of deaths from izinyoka has been on the rise.
"We need electricity, we will not participate in voter registration. We don't want IEC. We don't want civil servants here. There are basically no services here. The bridge gets blocked every time it rains. Kids are forced to stay home and not go to school when it rains. All we ask them to do is to unblock the stormwater drainage," Skosana said.
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Zweli Dlamini, the Ekurhuleni city spokesman, said they were aware of the protest but didn't know the reason behind it.
"In fact, all informal settlements receive basic services from the city. These include water, sanitation and rubbish collection. As for this protest, we will work with the municipality to resolve the issue," he said.
Zweli said the municipality condemns the unfortunate incident.
"We condemn all acts of lawlessness and vandalism during public protests. If a crime is committed, the police must make arrests," Zweli said.
Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi of the Gauteng police said police are investigating a case of malicious damage to property and no one has been arrested so far.
