A group of disgruntled business owners reportedly stormed the Madibeng municipal offices in Van Velder Street in Brits on Monday and literally ‘trashed’ the foyer and other areas of the building by dumping a large amount of waste in these areas.

According to a post by the North West Department of Local Government And Human Settlements, the trashing took place during a march by the disgruntled business owners working with the Madibeng Local Municipality who were reportedly dissatisfied with favouritism within the procurement system. The municipality had to close its doors around 12:00 to clean up the mess, the department said.

“A group of people who identified themselves as business owners dumped tons of garbage in the reception area of the main building. Management did meet with them after the incident to find the reasons for their actions and it came to light that they were mainly protesting over the supply chain process. We could not allow customers to enter the building as we first had to remove the garbage and thoroughly clean the affected area,” said municipal spokesperson, Tumelo Tshabalala.