Rustenburg residents block R24 in protest against poor service delivery

Rustenburg – Frustrated by ongoing service delivery issues, Rustenburg community members organised a peaceful roadblock on the R24 on Thursday 16 May 2024.

Henry Botha, one of the organisers, explained the community’s grievances: “The Waterfall East community has been without water and electricity for four days. We are fed up with the poor service delivery in Rustenburg.” Botha, along with his partner Tayla Ferreira, coordinated the protest at the R24 intersection near KFC and Builders Warehouse.

Botha expressed the community’s frustration, saying, “I speak for everyone here. I am very disappointed in how this town is being run. We have elderly people in our community who rely on ventilators to survive. Where does our tax money go? What is it being used for?”

Another protester, Faried Saloojee, director of Paint Centre in Rustenburg, emphasised the peaceful nature of the protest: “This protest is about service delivery concerning water and electricity. Rustenburg is suffering without these essentials. The infrastructure has collapsed, and it is totally unacceptable. We will stand together as one community. We are ratepayers, and we deserve proper service delivery and our basic necessities.”

The Rustenburg community’s unified stance highlights their determination to demand better services and accountability from local authorities.

Main photo: The organisers of the protest: Tayla Ferreira and Henry Botha.