The Democratic Alliance in the Eastern Cape reports that service delivery protests are on the rise in the province and continue to contribute to an environment of chaos and disorder, with about two protests taking place every day.
In the latest incident, protesters burned tyres in the Motherwell, Markman Townships area of Port Elizabeth before dispersing shortly before 6 am.
MEC of Safety and Liaison, Weziwe Tikana, said in response to a parliamentary question, that 674 service delivery protests took place in the province between the 1st of April 2018 and the 31st March 2019.
According to the DA's shadow MEC for Safety and Security Bobby Stevenson, this is a staggering increase of 158 additional protests that took place when compared to the 2017/18 financial year.
Stevenson said the DA condemned this lawlessness in the strongest possible terms and that the police alone cannot become the frontline for service delivery failure and imploding municipalities.
The Eastern Cape had the third-highest number of service delivery protests in the country for the 2018/19 financial year.
The general reasons for service delivery protests according to the response are electricity, housing, land and roads issues.
Pic: File photo
