All quite after Lillydale protest

Lillydale in the Bushbuckridge municipality was quiet on Tuesday morning following service delivery protests where nine people were arrested, Mpumalanga police said.

“It is all quiet this morning,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard Hlathi.

Police were still in the area.

“At 6am residents… went on the rampage. They burnt municipal offices and a Caterpillar grader,” Hlathi said on Monday.

The residents were demonstrating their dissatisfaction over municipal water which was unfit for consumption.

According to the 2012 Blue Drop Report, the water of 14 municipalities, including Bushbuckridge, did not meet government standards. Residents were advised to treat the water by boiling it or adding bleach before drinking it.

The nine people arrested would appear in the Bushbuckridge Magistrate's Court soon on charges of public violence and arson. – Sapa