Khutsong+vs+Lekota,+The+Star



=Khutsong vs Lekota=

=//Raging protests doom Lekota's Khutsong visit//=

The Star, Johannesburg, February 20, 2006

 * By Baldwin Ndaba**

With chants of "Voertsek out of Khutsong" ringing in their ears, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla had to be whisked to safety by heavily armed police on a fiery day of protest.

Angry residents, opposed to the incorporation of Khutsong's Merafong Municipality into North West, prevented people from attending a government imbizo organised by Lekota in the area just outside Carletonville yesterday.

Lekota had aimed to ease tensions, but he encountered furious residents who burnt tyres, barricaded roads and threw stones.

Only a handful of ANC supporters, mostly from the Sonderwater squatter settlement, gave Lekota a hearing.

Protesters invaded the Khutsong stadium and sang freedom songs in an attempt to prevent him from speaking.

Police moved in and carted scores of them to the cells.

When Lekota arrived, the crowd hurled abuse at him, saying they were not going to vote, and that he must "voertsek". They sang derogatory songs, among them that they would cut off his testicles.

Lekota tried to persuade the protesters to attend his meeting, but only about 200 people made it into the stadium.

During his address, he reiterated that the government would not reverse its decision on Khutsong.

He said he would ensure that the government dealt with local teachers who, he said, were responsible for the anarchy.

"I was disappointed to learn that the people responsible for this protest are teachers. So the government is paying them to disrupt classes," he fumed.

As he spoke, police outside the stadium continued to fire rubber bullets and teargas at residents, who accused the ANC of luring squatters to the meeting on the promise that houses would be built for them.

A spokesperson for the Merafong Municipality, Seabo Gaeganelwe, said some residents had intimidated others and told them not to attend Lekota's meeting. "They were threatened with the burning of their houses," he said.

As the meeting ended, protesters threatened to assault the squatters, who had to be escorted back to their shacks by police.

Others had to break off tree branches to protect themselves.

A police helicopter was used to help separate the angry mobs. The windows of a lorry with ANC electioneering posters were smashed and the driver had to speed away to avoid injury.

As they left the stadium, Lekota and Mabandla's drivers sped off to avoid angry residents.

Lekota promised to ensure the arrest of all those behind the protests, with 28 people arrested by last night.

Lekota told the SABC last night he would be back in Khutsong today and that protests would end in time for the March 1 elections to take place there.

SA Communist Party member Paul Ncwane said fewer than 100 people had attended Lekota's meeting, while thousands protested outside the stadium

"We are not prepared to vote (on March 1) unless the ANC changes its mind and says we will fall under Gauteng," Ncwane said.


 * From: http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=1872&fArticleId=3121626**

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