A seventeen-year-old pupil of Magoza High School at Dan village east of Tzaneen had to be rushed to hospital on Wednesday afternoon after she was shot with live ammunition.
This allegedly occurred when the police started firing at crowds during a protest action by residents of Mokgoloboto. It occurred when police were dispersing the protesters with rubber bullets and tear gas.
The protest sparked by lack of water and unreliable electricity supply on Sunday, escalated to adjacent areas including Dan village, Khujwana Cross Bridgeway, Lenyenye and Letsitele R71 crossing. Protestors blocked off the R36 and all routes branching from it.
As a result, schooling was affected as teachers arrived late because they had to use alternative routes to bypass the strikers. Criminal elements hijacked the strike and forced motorists to pay money to road blockers to pass the barricades.
Some motorists were threatened with their lives. On the third day of the strike protesters resorted to looting shops at the Bindzulani shopping complex.
This forced the police to step in and use appropriate force to disperse the protesters and clear the roads. During the ensuing clash between police and strikers, the girl was shot in her hand and had to be taken to Letaba hospital.
A police chopper was brought in and hovered around the area while the road was cleared by authorities as strikers fled. Though water supply was restored, protesters went on to revolt.
One of the protesters told Bulletin that Mokgoloboto had no water for several weeks with their complaints to the municipality never being addressed. He said that they decided to close the road after residents felt they were not being taken seriously.
What further enraged the protestors was that a new extension in Nkowankowa had already been supplied with water, while the more established, older settlements were left dry.
The Mopani District Municipality (MDM) which is the water authority, said that the water problem was resolved. MDM spokesperson Odas Ngobeni said the problem was caused by a burst water supply pipe which technicians were working on.
On Tuesday, the MDM reported that the areas supplied by the Nkowankowa water works were once again receiving water.
The MDM’s statement however did naught to halt the protestors as they continued protesting and looting stores. On Tuesday evening the R36 road was closed once again and had to be reopened on Wednesday morning.
At the time of going to print on Thursday (yesterday), the situation had returned to normal and all roads leading to and from the R36, were open.
