Eleven suspects appeared in the Ficksburg Magistrate's Court on Monday, facing charges related to violent service delivery protests in the small Free State town where roads were blocked and a vehicle was set alight last week.
South African Police Service provincial spokesperson, sergeant Mahlomola Kareli, said the suspects are between 20 and 49 years old and are from Meqheleng township.
"They were charged with public violence and appeared in the Ficksburg Magistrate's Court on Monday, 28 May."
No amount was set for the bail they were granted, and they were warned to appear in court again on 28 June.
"The situation is tense but under control, as members of the Public Order Police (POP) Unit are still deployed in the area," Kareli said.
Setsoto local councillor and Democratic Alliance member, Riette Dell, said the town was "quiet" over the weekend, and load shedding had been suspended for three days.
There were a handful of people at court prior to the suspects' appearance, Dell said yesterday.
A member of the Transit Assist Group, responsible for fuel shipments into Lesotho, posted footage on WhatsApp of the R26 "Maluti Road" being blockaded by burning objects last Thursday.
Cross-border supply chain operators transporting exports from South Africa to Lesotho were also warned to proceed cautiously along the R26.
According to a High Alert social media group, monitoring traffic and crime, the situation in the town was volatile until early Thursday afternoon after about 750 protesters barricaded the Clocolan crossing on the R26 with stones and burning tires.
The protesters, angered by poor housing and infrastructure service delivery, made worse by a major sewage problem, allegedly stoned a public order policing vehicle.
"At the entrance to Meqheleng, about 100 people were throwing stones at POP vehicles.
“Tyres were set alight, and the situation was very tense. POP is dealing with the situation," a report said on the High Alert.
Dell said the DA condemned the protests and was "firmly opposing the shutdown" as it was not a legal protest.
"While we understand and empathise with the community's frustrations regarding their demands and the lack of service delivery, we cannot endorse or support their actions."
Residents alleged in a memorandum to the municipality that no formalised housing had been allocated to them since 1994.
The memorandum also said that residents of Meqheleng lack basic services and that it has dealt with an ongoing sewage problem in the town.
"We urge the municipality to attend to people's needs. Our community is suffocating in sewage that has flooded our streets," the memorandum said.
Dell said the municipality had hosted a delegation from the National Department of Water and Sanitation last month to inspect the sewage problem, and that municipal officials are now working to fix the infrastructure.
