Newcastle rocked by morning protests

This morning, residents barricaded roads before proceeding to the municipal offices.

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A motorist who found herself in the middle of the protest says tyres were burning in the roads.

"Police were there, firefighters were there. There were tyres burning in the road. Cars were getting through easily, there was no violence," she said.

Council Speaker Samukelisiwe Yende says residents handed them a memorandum.

"We were able to engage one another, where we received documents with concerns that the community members have written to us," she said.

Yende says the first point on the memorandum was the high municipal rates.

"We will work towards addressing the issues that have been tabled."

Yende says they have until the end of this week to respond to the memorandum.

Meanwhile, the municipality owes Eskom around R200-million and faces the possibility of blackouts from the end of this month.