SAPS Public Order Policing and Metro police officers have been out in full force along Baden Powell Drive in the vicinity of Mew Way, as violent protests have led to the closure of sections of the road over the past week.

Protesters have taken to blockading the roadway with burning materials, with law enforcement struggling to return the area to calm.

Protesters are reportedly demanding electricity for the continuously expanding informal settlement area, but the City’s JP Smith says this is nothing more than an opportunistic attempt at destabilisation ahead of the elections.

‘It is always a tense period before any election period, where political parties create points of contention, in a desperate attempt to drive their support. But knowledge truly is power and communities are better of knowing the truth.

The area, like the majority of those areas suffering the same fate, is under the supply of Eskom, controlled by national government. Not local government. We are continuously wrestling with national government to hand over all the areas within our municipality, because we know we can do better. They refuse, and the reason is clear. Don’t be fooled.’

Smith says the burning materials placed on the roadway causes instant damage to the road surface, breaking down the protective bitumen layer.

When the first rains arrive, the underlying layer then breaks away, causing potholes.

‘This then becomes the next angle of attack for the same opposition parties.’

Smith says while violent protest action continued on Wednesday 1 May, they were able to collect valuable footage to identify some of the instigators, and arrested three people.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, perpetrators took to digging a trench along an unmanned stretch of the road in a further attempt to render the route unusable.

Crews from the City’s Roads department worked through the day to restore the road surface, for it to be reopened to traffic. Metro Police, Law Enforcement and Traffic Services are all deployed to protect this vital corridor during this time.

Additional resources have been deployed to further protect motorists along Baden Powell from Thursday, until all the instigators behind this siege are arrested and brought to book.