Tension in townships as protests continue over shortages

(14 Oct 2009) 1. Wide shot burned out library in Standerton 2. Close of library 3. Wide street scene of Standerton with debris in the street 4. Wide of Mohammed Tuck Shop 5. Set up Nkosinathe Thanjelawayo, resident of Standerton 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Nkosinathe Thanjelawayo, Resident of Standerton "If Jacob (Zuma)'s would ever (inaudible), I tell him directly that - look man - you need to talk to your men. You need to talk to them. Tell them why you came to the office, you want them to talk to the people, you want them to stop corruption, then stop preaching. Let it be in practise. If your answer is (inaudible) corruption in the country, just (inaudible) 7. Wide interior Standerton stadium, man wearing ANC T-shirt 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Nkosinathe Thanjelawayo, Resident of Standerton "if someone is waiting for government and is accused or alleged for having being corrupt. We don't need to just say 'that official is corrupt, must go,' it doesn't end there. If you are guilty, be brought under the full range of the law. Be prosecuted according to the provisions of the law. If you have broken the law, you need to be prosecuted. If you have eaten people's money, you need to be eaten by jail." 9. Wide Standerton residents inside the stadium, singing 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Thabiso Tsotetsi, Resident of Standerton "Listen to the people who voted for you, and then act according to their need, which is to fire all the officials who are not performing their duty That's the first thing I would ask Jacob Zuma." 11. Mid crowd singing and dancing STORYLINE: The situation remained tense across South Africa's townships on Wednesday as residents continued to protest over poor service delivery. In the Sakhile township of Standerton, in northwest Mpumalanga province, residents gave local municipality workers a noon deadline to resolve the worsening situation. As the deadline passed, several thousand people gathered in the local stadium to await the outcome of discussions between local authorities and community leaders. People sang and danced as tyres were burnt in protest. By 1800 local time, still no resolution of the situation had been found. Wednesday's protests follow weeks of similar unrest within South Africa's townships over poor service delivery. Nearly 60 people have been arrested in the protests, some of which began a few weeks ago. Protests across South Africa have been increasing in their intensity and violence. Many South Africans live in poverty and President Jacob Zuma is under pressure to improve basic services like water and electricity. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...