Frustrated Malmesbury residents embarked on a peaceful protest on Wednesday against what they describe as unfair treatment of black and coloured people by the municipality.

A group of 300 people protested in the Swartland town to deliver a memorandum of demands to Mayor Tijmen van Essen.

Community leader Amber Jacobs said for many years people of colour from disadvantaged backgrounds have been treated unequally when it comes service delivery and law enforcement.

Jacobs said the municipality was also harsher towards residents of colour when it comes to the provision of water and electricity.

Jacobs said residents reside in council houses with huge tariffs, with basics such as kettles and stoves, yet their bills end up being thousands per month.

‘‘If you are 20 cents in arrears, your electricity is cut, and you must pay a R50 penalty when you want it reinstalled. White residents get a grace period,” Jacobs said.

A municipal representative responded on behalf of Van Essen and said an official response to the demands would be issued within the next two to three weeks.