Maroela Media reports that the Democratic Alliance (DA) has expressed deep concern over unrest in Ventersdorp, where police clashed with residents during protest action on Monday.
According to Lebo Nchoela, DA councilor for public affairs in the JB Marks local municipality, community members were brutally beaten. For days, major routes, including the N14, were blocked as part of ongoing protest. The immediate trigger for this unrest was apparently the discovery that local residents had been excluded from employment opportunities at a nearby mine. Allegations were made that ANC councillors instructed mine management to hire only individuals from politically compiled lists, bypassing fair and transparent recruitment processes. The absence of clear answers has reinforced the perception that ANC councillors were abusing their positions to secure jobs for comrades, friends, and family members.
In response, frustrated residents have announced their intention to travel to Potchefstroom to deliver a letter to the Office of the Speaker. They are demanding that all ANC councillors representing Ventersdorp wards appear before the community by Sunday, 28 September 2025, to account for their actions and to explain what they have delivered since assuming office. The DA said that while it did not condone riots, looting, or violent protest, it fully supported the rights of residents to expose corruption and abuse of power through lawful and democratic means.
- Read the full original of the Afrikaans report in the above regard at Maroela Media
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