Lists or Throwing Lots as Colesberg Burns.

In what was always poised as a tinderbox long boiling to implode, overnight the streets of Kuyasa Township went from easy traffic to barricaded roads, burning tyres and angry residents telling law enforcement to ‘v*k off.’ So intense was the situation that riot police were called in from de Aar, and at a few times dispensed stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse the rioters. Even the loadshedding guy either fluffed his schedule or had been advised to cut his sporadic two-hour pound of flesh by an hour that evening.

For that, at least, the entire town is grateful. Not so for the stun grenades going off and the mess left behind by burning tyres.

An armoured vehicle keeps a tentative eye on the protests. Image: eParkeni

The recent multi-million Rand SANRAL project that was lauded to bring much-needed employment opportunities to the area has been a bone of bitter contention between various political parties, the community, and civic organisations; most notably the ANC, EFF and the Umsobomvu Residents Association, URA.

Following weeks of disagreement as to the employment criteria, this past Thursday everything came to a head when members of the community marched down on the contractors’ premises. According to *John Doe, the community sought specifics as to how the company had gone about employing those who had already seemingly started working at the company. Doe claims that at a community meeting some two weeks prior, a compromise had been reached between the ANC – which already had a list of people whom it wanted employed on the project – and the community.

Protesters manning the barricades. Image: eParkeni

“We’d agreed,” says Doe, “that 45 people would come from the ANC’s ‘list’ and another 45 would be determined by shuffling identity documents in a box and picking them out randomly.” Adds Khayalethu ‘Old’ Gayiya: “this method is fair and square. It’s transparent, and, furthermore, this is not an individual project but a government one, intended to develop Colesberg and the area at large.”

EFF provincial executive member, Simphiwe Mrwarwaza, reiterates a sentiment expressed during his party’s national shutdown in March this year where it virtually brought the town to a standstill. “The ANC,” Mrwarwaza alleges, “is using these projects as a canvassing tool. The majority of the community wants the employment to be via the shuffling of IDs in a box” so that everyone may enjoy equal opportunity despite political affiliation. He further accuses the ANC of shoving their ‘lists’ – which he claims are always riddled by party loyalists – down the community’s throat. This, he says, ostensibly leads to the same people being employed in these projects and is categorically unfair.

Show of force, ANC supporters take to the streets. Image: Supplied.

On Friday morning, eParkeni arrives on the scene of the protest.

The township’s Main Road is riddled with rocks and a plume of smoke rises from a solitary burning tyre. A police contingent comprised of several vans and an armoured vehicle keep a watchful eye on the protesters, who in turn are turning vehicles attempting to pass through the barricade around.

The previous evening says one officer, they’d had to dispense stun grenades to maintain order. Doe, who has been ardently protesting, says this was mostly owed to police suspicion than any inclination to violence on the part of the protesters. “We,” he says, “were heading home when we saw the police firing stun grenades and rubber bullets.”

Fortunately, nobody was harmed in the incident. Doe also insists that apart from the EFF and URA, their cause enjoys overwhelming support from the Democratic Alliance, Patriotic Alliance as well as dissatisfied pockets of the ANC itself.

In town, those who have been employed to the project were eagerly collecting their personal protective gear (PPE). One particularly expansive subject expressed his joy at how his fortunes had improved but refused to go into details as to how his employment came about. This would be the general attitude eParkeni was met with throughout the day – nobody really wanted to talk, at least not to us. Although the ANC probably had its hands full to oblige a sit-down, we were at least able to get some explanation from an ex-councillor who has kept abreast of the situation.

The first issue, he tells us, is that there are no less than three construction companies that have arrived in Colesberg. As a result The Council had resolved that all these companies would be working with a project liason committee (PLC). Chief amongst the PLC’s mandates would be the facilitation of an employment database which would, amongst others, take stock of the town’s unemployed as well as giving preference to people who come from needy households.

Collecting their PPE, the happy new employees in the road maintenance project. Image: Supplied.

According to the ex-councillor, the community had agreed on the unemployment database, a claim that Mrwarwaza refutes. Our source further alleges that the EFF then went on to verbally threaten the construction companies, forcing them to cease operations, a move that triggered a standoff between the EFF and the ANC. Thanks to a heavy police presence, any physical confrontation was negligible as a result, although the week was marred by some skirmishes.

For Doe, the issue of the unemployment database is no more than a cover-up for the ruling party’s unscrupulous efforts to appoint only those who swear by it. Like the contentious issue of cadre deployment, reduced by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to ‘unconstitutional,’ the party is seen to be dictating who gets to work and who is left to forage on locusts and wild honey on the economic wilderness.

In view of the 2024 general election, Mrwarwaza sees it as a means to coerce the community into voting for the ruling party … or else. With ridiculous unemployment figures, jobs are no doubt a major drawcard and to be seen to be creating them guarantees some political mileage. For Doe and his posse, they have vowed to continue their picket. Given their numbers, it is doubtful whether this will bear any fruits, but they are young, restless and idle, seemingly with all the time in the world to come out and protest all day.

At the time of writing (Tuesday, 24), the community was assembled for yet another meeting at the Kuyasa Community Hall. Packed to the rafters, there was the ubiquitous strong police presence and a lot of heckling, jeering and unmentionable language. Clearly there appears to be a long way to go before the feuding parties will consider a satisfactory compromise. Again the issue of ‘lists’ versus ‘drawing lots’ came up. The disagreeing intensified. Barely an hour into the proceedings, a toi-toi had ensued, this time with bigger numbers. This is a developing story and the mayhem continues…

Scenes from Tuesday, 24, following a community meeting. Image: eParkeni.

*Not his real name.

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