Protesters, led by the Unemployed People's Movement (UPM), brought the Grahamstown city centre to a standstill around midday on Wednesday 27 August.
Protesters, led by the Unemployed People's Movement (UPM), brought the Grahamstown city centre to a standstill around midday on Wednesday 27 August.
Residents from the historically white suburbs joined protesters from the township and striking municipal workers, as they all congregated outside the city hall around midday.
Adding their voice to the protest was local government watchdog the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM), who, together with the UPM, wrote an open letter to the provincial and local government leadership, calling for Makana municipality to be dissolved and for those who had mismanaged its finances to be held accountable.
Mayor Zamuxolo Peter, along with acting municipal manager Themba Mnguni and infrastructure director Thembinkosi Myalato, met with the crowd and received the letter.
UPM leader Ayanda Kota told Grocott's Mail they had called for the implementation of section 139 because the citizens of Makana had lost faith in the municipality. This lack of confidence was made worse by the recent Auditor General's finding on the municipality's finances.
The AG issued a fourth successive disclaimer. Other problems were housing and general service delivery.
Grahamstown resident Nomfundo Bikitsha told Grocott's Mail she had asked her employer for a day off so she could join the march. She claimed the municipality was corrupt, particularly when it came to the allocation of housing. She said she was angry.
"I have voted and trusted these people, but now they are treating us like this," Bikitsha said.
"All in all the municipality must be dissolved," she said, raising her fist.
* The open letter from PSAM and the UPM is published on the Letters page of Grocott's Mail's Friday 29 August edition.
