$ = R 7.75
£ = R 12.18
€ = R 10.22
Oil = $ 117.02
Gold = $ 1717.5
Last Update:
17:29 10 Feb 12
Sapa
'Not a strike anymore'
Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:00
The roads of Sakhile township in Standerton remained blockaded
on Wednesday as residents trickled out to work in defiance of mob
demands.
Residents say the barricades are manned by young men demanding
"tolls".
Sibusiso Dlamini, who works at a nearby factory, said they
demanded R20 from him to pass. He avoided them by using another
road.
"Now I think it is not a strike anymore. It's just making
money," he said.
A teenager told Sapa on Tuesday that he needed money from the
informal toll booths to buy petrol "so that we can burn things".
Two residents who work as petrol attendants in the Standerton
CBD said they were going to work but would return to the township
by noon.
"We are just going to work to see what is happening. We will get
back before the meeting at the stadium at 12 noon," said one of the
two women.
The residents will meet at the Sakhile stadium to get feedback
on their demands, which include a call for the resignation of the
municipal councillors.
They accuse the councillors and the municipality of
mismanagement of funds, saying that reconstruction and development
programme (RDP) houses were left unfinished because of their
greediness.
Motorists using the R23 between Standerton and Balfour had to
use alternative routes after police closed that road on Tuesday.
"If you go through there they are going to smash your windows,
it's chaos there," a policeman at the scene told Sapa on Tuesday.