Councillors arrested
2007-04-25
THE quaint tourist village of Franschhoek was brought under siege on Friday evening, when disgruntled residents of Langrug informal settlement marched to the town hall.
The incident was sparked by an operation launched by the Stellenbosch Municipality to disconnect the power cables which had been illegally connected to the homes of informal residents in Langrug.
On Thursday evening numerous residents of Langrug were toi-toing in the area, as well as burning rubber tyres.
Friday evening the anger grew to fever pitch when about 250 rowdy residents marched to the town hall, allegedly under the leadership of ANC councillors Gordon Pheiffer and James Morgan.
Once at the town hall the group became rowdy, demanding to see the Municipal Manager of Stellenbosch, and emptying rubbish bins in the streets.
As the crowd got increasingly out of hand, the Franschhoek police were forced to summon help from neighbouring police stations in Paarl, Groot Drakenstein, Stellenbosch and Wellington.
The rear window of a detective’s car was smashed by a rock before the crowd dispersed.
Councillors Pheiffer and Morgan were amongst nine people who were arrested on charges such as riotous behaviour and participating in an illegal march. They appeared in the Paarl magistrate’s court yesterday.
Pheiffer is currently being investigated by Stellenbosch Municipality for alleged fraudulent activities.
No person or business was harmed during the protest, but a restaurateur did say that it was embarrassing to expose the many tourists in Franschhoek to such unruly behaviour.
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