{"id":83447,"date":"2018-08-02T13:04:06","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T11:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/?p=83447"},"modified":"2018-08-03T12:58:22","modified_gmt":"2018-08-03T10:58:22","slug":"video-trafficupdate-protesters-optimum-block-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/news-headlines\/2018\/08\/02\/video-trafficupdate-protesters-optimum-block-roads\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO: #TrafficUpdate &#8211; Protesters at Optimum block roads"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Contract workers employed by Optimum Coal Mine came together at the mine entrance in protest, claiming that it has now been three months since they have not received any pay.<\/p>\n<p>The N11 was littered with large rocks, burning logs and tyres. A truck was forced to stop in the middle of the road and dump its load of sand on the N11.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_83449\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-83449\" style=\"width: 520px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-83449\" src=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2018\/08\/IMG_1434-Copy-520x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"520\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/08\/IMG_1434-Copy-520x400.jpg 520w, https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2018\/08\/IMG_1434-Copy-300x231.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-83449\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The N11 was blocked with logs, large rocks and a truck which dumped a load of sand in the middle of the road.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Also read: <a href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/83434\/trafficupdate-n11-main-road-pullenshope-closed\/\" target=\"_blank\">#TrafficUpdate: N11 and main road to Pullenshope closed<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Protesters told<b>\u00a0www.mobserver.co.za<\/b>\u00a0that the ANC Minister of Mineral Resources, Mr Gwede Mantashe, spoke to them a month ago, yet nothing has been done since.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have not been paid for three months, we have not been paid our U.I.F and pension funds. We have recently engaged with the Business Rescue Practitioners but until now, there has been no change,\u201d Mr Mahlanga told\u00a0<b>www.mobserver.co.za<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022Police are currently at the scene and controlling the situation. The N11 is open and traffic is being navigated around the obstacles, however, the road going to Optimum is still blocked.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class='tie-fluid-width-video-wrapper tie-ignore-fitvid' style='margin-bottom: 30px;'>\n\t\t\t<iframe style='width: 100%; min-height: 300px; aspect-ratio: 16\/9;' src='https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/I0MxaARzAY8' loading='lazy'><\/iframe>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Other News:<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/83341\/dullstroom-farm-attack-trial-postponed\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dullstroom farm attack trial postponed<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/83338\/videodance-group-brings-joy-residents\/\" target=\"_blank\">VIDEO: Dance group brings joy to residents<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/83330\/middelburg-weekly-weather-forecast\/\" target=\"_blank\">Middelburg weekly weather forecast<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/83307\/pay-use-road-death-lives\/\" target=\"_blank\">Pay or use \u2018The road where death lives\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"twenty_seventeen_advert_slider\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"twenty_seventeen_advert_slider\">\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>Want breaking news on the go?<\/h3>\n<p>\u2022 Save our standby number (072 248 3855) and send us a WhatsApp message with the words \u201cAdd me\u201d to be added to our broadcast list.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Like us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiddelburgObserver\/\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MOBSERV\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mobserver\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Subscribe to our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCs1fP1J8BpepNwIfk2qeVkQ\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/newsletter-signup\/\" target=\"_blank\">Click on the link<\/a>\u00a0to subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter via email.<\/p>\n<h3>Have a news tip?<\/h3>\n<p>Contact our news room on our 24 hr standby number\u00a0072 248 3855, or send a mail to our editor\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:tobie@mobserver.co.za\" target=\"_blank\">tobie@mobserver.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Traffic on the N11 dammed up near the Optimum turn off after roads were blocked by protesters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8164,"featured_media":83448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Sjani Campher","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[12719,6928,3809,10795,12711,12720,12713,8619],"class_list":["post-83447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news-headlines","tag-trafficupdate","tag-gupta-owned-optimum-mine","tag-n11","tag-optimum-mine","tag-optimum-protests","tag-optimum-road","tag-pullenshope-main-road-blocked","tag-traffic-update"],"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Local news"},"tag_labels":["#TrafficUpdate","Gupta-owned Optimum Mine","N11","Optimum Mine","Optimum protests","Optimum Road","Pullenshope main road blocked","traffic update"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}