The United Progressive People Alliance (UPPA) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the Tshwane government’s decision to deploy Tshwane Metro Police and SAPS to Gomora Informal Settlement while electricity cut-offs are being carried out.

This is not leadership.

This is what happens when a government runs out of answers and reaches for the police.

The residents of Gomora are angry because they have been left in the dark , literally and politically, about their future.

Instead of sitting down with residents, explaining the City’s plans and negotiating a workable solution, the City has chosen confrontation.

Electricity gets switched off. Police get deployed. Residents get threatened with enforcement. And the politicians disappear.

Where is the Executive Mayor?

Where is the MMC for Human Settlements?

Where are the officials responsible for the City’s informal settlements?

Where is the plan for Gomora?

The people deserve answers.

UPPA rejects the idea that every legitimate community grievance must be treated as a security problem.

Gomora is not a crime scene. It is a community demanding answers from its government.

If residents are demanding clarity about electricity, housing, formalisation and their future, the appropriate response is political engagement, not a convoy of police vehicles.

The City must stop treating poor communities as a problem to be controlled and start treating them as citizens to be served.

UPPA DEMANDS:

1. IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION OF ELECTRICITY CUT-OFFS

The City must immediately suspend the current electricity cut-offs and engage residents before taking further action that could escalate tensions.

2. THE MAYOR MUST GO TO GOMORA

We call on the Executive Mayor or the MMC for Human Settlements to go to Gomora today and address residents directly.

Not a press conference.

Not another statement.

Go to the people.

3. GIVE RESIDENTS A REAL PLAN

The City must publicly explain:

● Is Gomora being formalised?

● Will residents receive permanent electricity infrastructure?

● Is relocation planned?

● If so, where and when?

● What housing solutions are available?

● What happens to families currently living there?

● What services will be provided while a permanent solution is developed?

Residents cannot plan their lives around rumours and government silence.

4. STOP USING LAW ENFORCEMENT AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

SAPS and Tshwane Metro Police must not be turned into the City’s political shield.

Their responsibility is to maintain safety and prevent violence — not to compensate for politicians who refuse to engage communities.

For years, residents have been promised better services, better governance and better planning.

Yet communities continue to battle electricity problems, water shortages, sanitation failures, broken infrastructure and uncertainty over housing.

Then, when people finally say “enough”, the government discovers the police budget.

UPPA will not accept this model of governance.

We believe the government must build, fix and heal, not disconnect, threaten and abandon.

The people of Gomora do not need politicians who arrive with police escorts.

They need leaders who arrive with solutions.

The current situation is a warning to the entire City of Tshwane:

A government that refuses to listen to its people should not be surprised when those people refuse to remain silent.

UPPA calls on residents to remain peaceful, but we equally call on government to stop provoking communities through arrogant and confrontational enforcement.

THE CHOICE BEFORE TSHWANE IS SIMPLE

More of the same — or a government that actually listens.

More police — or more solutions.

More excuses — or accountability.

More broken promises — or a government that builds, fixes and heals.

UPPA stands with the people of Gomora.

Gomora deserves electricity. Gomora deserves dignity. Gomora deserves answers. Gomora deserves leadership.

And if the current government cannot provide those things, the people of Tshwane have every right to replace it.

Issued by: United Progressive People Alliance (UPPA) Tshwane

Media enquiries

Abel Tau

Tshwane Mayoral Candidate and National Spokesperson

0712655040