'I'm safe and at home': Patricia de Lille slams claims she was taken hostage by Gqeberha protesters

Public works and infrastructure minister Patricia de Lille has slammed claims she was held hostage in a shopping mall by small, micro and medium enterprises protesters in Gqeberha.

This week, protesters forcefully opened Ster-Kinekor gates at Baywest Mall to disrupt a meeting attended by De Lille and public works deputy minister Noxolo Kiviet and Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Eugene Johnson.

Speaking to SABC News, De Lille said claims of her being held hostage by protesters were not true.

The meeting was held in a boardroom next to the toilets where SMMEs were protesting.

“It’s not true. The mayor and I diffused the situation by speaking to the shopping centre management to give us room to sit down and meet the aggrieved small business [owners].”

“There was no hostage [situation], nothing. Only a demand to ask the police to release their colleagues. So, to correct all this, I am safe, I’m home in Pretoria.”

On Wednesday, De Lille and minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele conducted an oversight visit to the N2 Nodal Development project in Nelson Mandela Bay .

The development is part of the Infrastructure Investment Plan approved by cabinet in May 2020.

“The project is part of 50 strategic integrated projects and 12 special projects totalling R340bn singled out in 2020. It is made up of 12,100 new housing opportunities with more than 500,000m² of retail, commercial, and office space and industrial, community and social facilities,” said the presidency.

More than R18bn will be spent during the implementation phase and about 86,956 jobs will be created during the construction phase.

“It is estimated that 910 new formal small, medium and micro enterprises will benefit from the project.

“The investment is expected to generate about R51.1bn for the provincial economy.”