Matsulu: Members of the community burning tires in protest. Picture by: Creo Nthali

By: Creo Nthali
Members of the Matsulu community started another story for the media, as they have embarked on protests over service delivery.
The Mpumalanga province shows to be having more strikes coming its way. As if it was not enough with the Mashishing protests, which shook the province and got the media running.
This protests fall under the 2010 world cup host region, Mbombela, as Matsulu is a community located East of Nelspruit some thirty-five kilometers from the city. If the region is yet to see more of this as not only Matsulu cries of the lack of service delivery, it may prove the host region to be under a threat, especially if nothing will be done soon.
The members of the Matsulu community have run out of patients, as they claim that all they have been receiving from their councilors is empty promises. This protests started on Thursday at the community’s civic center, with not more than thirty people entertaining it. But the number that was there surely did disrupt the scheduled meeting for councilors and the



community’s’ small organizations, including the ANC youth league. They entered the council’s chamber shouting remove or kill useless councilors.
Perceiving that they were not heard on Thursday, Friday morning they mobilized other community members to part in the protest, increasing the number of protesters. Burning tires at the one way entrance and exit of the community, brought the community to a stand still, and that was after closing down the community’s civic center. For more than four hours nothing was allowed into the community and out of the community, living workers and other community members with no options but to return home.
The protest embarked on by the public was unauthorized and illegal, but the community’s police officers proved to be as useless as the councilors are said to be, as they stayed away from the seen. Maybe that was small waters, but on Thursday it was even smaller, and that means we might still see more of protesting in the community if nothing is done.