South Africa: Separate protests block tourist spot near Mandela’s old home, disrupt Cape Town

JOHANNESBURG (AP) _ Protesters in South Africa have blocked off the road leading to the Soweto home of the late Nelson Mandela, in a demonstration against electricity bills.

Police said residents on Wednesday burned tires and piled rocks across the streets of a Soweto neighbourhood, once home to Mandela and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, and now a popular tourist spot in Johannesburg.

Residents’ representative Faith Vanqa said they were protesting the power utility’s billing system change from a monthly reading to a prepaid meter.

In Cape Town, hundreds of striking municipal workers trashed the city’s streets. The South African Municipal Workers Union said in a statement that they were demanding better wages and maternity benefits for firefighters among other things