SOUTH AFRICA: Shut down in protest against mayor

Since last Wednesday, residents of the town of Ladysmith, which has 64,000 inhabitants, have been blocking streets and entrances to the town in protests against the mayor.

The people blame the mayor Vincent Madlala for corruption and bad infrastructure. They say the service delivery has been hampered for too long and that he has used public coffers to enrich himself, so they asked him to step down. Before blocking the roads the residents handed some memorandum to the authorities, calling for the impeachment of Madlala, but they didn't comply.

As reaction the masses started to block all incoming and outgoing roads and keypoints on February 27. They erected barricades made of rocks, wood and burning tires leading to a total shut down. Also the most shops were closed as a kind of general strike.

There is not much known about the procedure of the security forces. It is only reported that 21 people were arrested and that some blockades were cleared by police. But many barricades are still remaining or got newly erected.