Update 20:34: Police bail was refused. A pro bono lawyer was secured but the prosector on standby had her phone switched off and so a bail hearing was made impossible. The three comrades will have to spend the weekend in the holding cells.
Update 10:10: The three comrades arrested today are are Themba Msomi, Thembeka Sondaba & Fikiswa Mgoduka.
Yesterday there was a blockade in Clare Estate. This morning there are blockades in iSiyanda and uMlazi. Three comrades, including the chairperson are under arrest in uMlazi. She still has her phone with her and she is strong. A police car turned over in uMlazi. This was because the driver failed to control it. We did not attack it. However we were attacked with tear gas and rubber bullets – the same bullets that killed Andries Tatane – in both iSiyanda and uMlazi.
uTata Nelson Mandela said that if the ANC does to us what apartheid did to us then we must do to the ANC what we did to apartheid. We are living in apartheid under black management. Therefore we are back to the streets. In these actions we are honouring Madiba.
The demands that are being issued on these blockades are clear. The first one is the same demand as the one issued in Cato Crest on Monday, in Clare Estate yesterday and in Clare Estate, iSiphingo and Cato Crest last week. That demand is that we want a full and proper response to the memoranda that we handed over to the Municipality on our march on 16 September. We have a new demand too now: Free Bandile Mdlalose!