ANC CONDEMNS VIOLENT PROTESTS IN NC

The Northern Cape’s governing party, the ANC, has condemned violent local government protests that gripped the province this week.  Smoke billowing from burning tyres, barricading of major routes with debris and rubble marked service delivery protests in Kimberley. In Douglas a municipal building and truck were torched. Whilst in Pampierstad near the agricultural heartland of Hartswater, shops of foreign nationals were looted as protestors went on the rampage. Jan Kempdorp was also affected.

In an issued statement, ANC secretary Deshi Ngxanga bemoaned the violent acts; “we call for calm in all the affected communities and would like to apologize to all community members who were affected by these protests.”

And now the party’s top provincial leadership is to embark on a mission to quell flaring tempers. “The ANC in the province will in the coming week meet with affected communities, together with the regional leadership and the officials of at the municipalities to attend to the concerns raised by the respective affected communities.

“We however condemn in the strongest terms the use of violence and other unlawful measures to highlight the concerns and complaints. Our democratic state has created legal institutions and platforms to address community concerns and complaints. We encourage communities to make use of these platforms.”

He also added that the ANC has noted that “some of the complaints are indeed genuine and are affecting communities negatively.”

“As the ANC we are committed to the delivery of quality services to our communities, we acknowledge that although much has been done for our communities, a lot more needs to be done and it can only be done when communities work together with local government,” said Ngxanga.

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