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PICS: Angry community burns 7 govt cars in protest over tarred road

Angry community members in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, set alight seven municipal vehicles during a protest for a tarred road in their area, the Sowetan reported.

The residents of Dwarsloop, who reportedly started protesting on Monday evening, torched the municipal vehicles on Tuesday.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi told News24 on Thursday that no arrests had been made.

According to Hlathi, community members burnt the vehicles because of ongoing unhappiness with service delivery.

Sowetan reports that Dwarsloop has better access to modern services, owing to it being adjacent to the R40, which is the only commercial route through Bushbuckridge.

A community member, who did not want to be identified, told Sowetan that residents were "demanding a tarred road leading to neighbouring rural villages".

"They keep on giving us excuses; we are tired of waiting and we want the road as of now. These government employees always have something to hide," the community member reportedly said.

"If they don't give us the road, we will keep on protesting until the financial year ends," another community member told that publication.

A spokesperson for the provincial Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport, Cyril Dlamini, told Sowetan there had been a "breakdown in communication" between the community and its councillor over the construction of the tarred road, which led to protests.

"We promised to [build] the road in the fourth quarter of the 2019/20 financial year, but the councillor told the community that the road will be constructed in the fourth quarter of the current financial year, which made the community angry as the [financial] year is nearing its end," Dlamini reportedly said.

News24 could not reach Dlamini for comment.

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