Residents of Westbury, a community in Johannesburg, are determined to continue their protests until Mayor Dada Morero personally visits the area to address their urgent concerns. The ongoing water outages have sparked outrage among locals, who have taken to the streets demanding accountability and solutions from the city’s leadership.
The protests, which escalated in response to increasing water scarcity, have seen the community come together in a desperate bid for answers. Tensions flared when police responded to the demonstrations using rubber bullets, intensifying the frustration among residents who describe their situation as dire.
“All we are asking is for water,” one protester stated emphatically. “There is gun violence happening every day, people are dying here and you don’t see this. We are having a peaceful protest yet they can do this to us, shoot us like we are animals, and yet we are fighting for our basic rights.”
The protest served as a glaring reminder of the challenges plaguing many South African townships. Locals lament that their communities are suffering while others continue to receive steady water supplies. “Things will get ugly here because gunshots are going off in our township. In our areas where there are hospitals, clinics, and schools, our water has been cut off while others are having water,” another resident lamented.
The community’s frustration directed not only at the Johannesburg mayor but also at national leadership. Many residents have expressed their discontent with President Cyril Ramaphosa, demanding sweeping changes at all levels of government. “Cyril must go, Dada must go, and the water board must go because they’ve been paid millions but there are no solutions,” declared a participant in the march, underscoring the depth of their grievance.