Gangsters are transporting tyres to Bo-Kaap to fuel violent protests.
This is according to JP Smith, who claims “sinister forces” are behind the recent surge in housing riots in the Western Cape.
And the aim of this diabolical scheme, says the mayco member for safety and security, is to “keep levels of panic among the public high and to drive ungovernability”.
Well, there you have it, folks.
If you didn’t know, the land protests are all part of a campaign to make the DA-run City and Province look bad.
And the spate of deadly taxi attacks that have claimed 13 lives in the past two weeks?
They’re intended to stir racial tension and destabilise the city, says Smith.
So if Smith is to be believed, the people of Siqalo are not SO gatvol of struggling without their own land, running water and electricity, that they would go on the rampage.
The residents of Bo-Kaap are not THAT up in arms about property development and the rising cost of housing, that they would barricade Wale Street.
Informal residents of Vrygrond, Parkwood and Woodlands are not SO desperate for homes that they’ll squat on open fields and risk violent clashes with anti-land invasion officials.
And the rivalry between taxi associations over operating routes - it’s not SUCH a big deal.
According to Smith, 145 protests have been reported in the province since the beginning of the year, and over 140 people have been arrested for public violence.
This represents an increase of 73 percent in protest action on last year.
But to claim that there’s an anti-DA, or anti-JP, political agenda behind all of this?
CRIMINAL ELEMENT: The looting of shops in Woodlands during recent land protests
That’s not just reckless, it’s paranoid.
JP claims to have video evidence of gangsters smokkeling tyres into Bo-Kaap.
His intel apparently comes from “reliable forces”.
Well, then haal uit en wys, JP. Seeing is believing.
Look, it is quite possible that skollies are hijacking the protests. We’ve seen that with the looting of businesses in Siqalo and Woodlands.
It is also possible that political rivals the ANC and the Ses’khona People’s Rights Movement are stoking uprisings - ahead of next year’s elections - though they have denied it.
Then again, maybe, just maybe, the people of the Cape have legitimate issues.
And they are genuinely, well and truly, struggling, gatvol and desperate for land and affordable homes.
The housing backlog in the province currently stands at a staggering 600 000.
So yes, mense are in need of help and to show how serious their plight is, they take to the streets and protest.
And for Smith to turn this into a political football, or blame skollies, that’s not taking the people’s issues very serious at all, is it?
In fact, it’s only going to stir up further revolt.
And it may just cost the party votes next year.