Johannesburg MMC for public safety Michael Sun has been forced to leave Alexandra after residents refused to be addressed by him.

Sun had been sent by Johannesburg major Herman Mashaba to "assess the situation" after the residents barricaded the roads with burning tyres and rocks during the shutdown of the township.

Chanting "we want Mashaba", the protesting residents demanded to be directly addressed by the mayor. The residents have raised several concerns including shacks that are being erected without following proper procedures and being ignored by waste-collection company Pikitup.

Sun said the mayor never indicated that he was not willing to meet with the residents, saying Mashaba only asked him to go to the township first to engage with the community.

“I don’t understand why. If there’s such a serious protest about service delivery, why wouldn’t the residents meet with me? I was insulted by one of the leaders who said I run a spaza department, therefore I’m not relevant to come and address the crowd,” said Sun.

“I think that is absolutely unacceptable. We are here representing the City of Johannesburg, we really want to engage. We are here to listen. If there’s a memorandum to be delivered, I want to receive it."