Concerned residents have called a meeting to address the issue of protests by informal dwellers living in the Siqalo informal settlement.

Last week the Siqalo informal settlers blocked the newly named Jakes Gerwel\Vanguard drive between Highlands drive and the R300 for the reason that they do not want contractors from the City of Cape Town to clean the settlement, when people living in the settlement who are in need of work can do it, to earn an income.

Now concerned residents have called a meeting to try and find a solution to the ongoing protest action that saw residents of some parts of Mitchell’s Plain force to use an alternate route and caused major disruptions when motorists was forced to use alternate routes to and from work.

Representing the Ratepayers association, the London Village street committee and the CPF, Rashmiya Lucas said that they are fed up and feel that they are being held hostage in their own homes.

“They are allowed to protest but not in this manner, as it is an inconvenience for the people in Mplain who make use of the main road. Our bosses don’t want to understand if we are late, what must we do?”

She goes on to say that they are awaiting a reply from City Management on what they are planning to will not stop until they have managed to stop the protests.

Executive Director for Safety and Security, Richard Bosman last week states that solid waste management is engaging with the community to try and resolve the impasse and to come to some sort of an agreement in terms of how to proceed going forward.

“We cannot have this protest action on a daily basis like this, it is causing major disruption and it is a major drain on the City’s resources,” said Bosman.

He explains that City officials are working on a plan to sort the matter out in the meantime the road will be monitored by police so as to prevent any disruptions during peak hour traffic. VOC(Imogen Vollenhoven)