Conveners of the Alex shutdown have told an inquiry conducted by the SA Human Rights Commission and the public protector that their protests had nothing to do with politics.

One of the organisers, Sandile Mavundla, told the inquiry that the Alexandra community submitted a memorandum of demands at the City of Joburg's regional office in Sandton.

It was after the concerns of the community did not receive the required urgency residents wanted that the plan to hold a protest began.

"There was nothing attaching [the] Alexandra total shutdown to politics. It was about basic service delivery in Alex," said Mavundla.

The commission together with the public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane are looking into the socioeconomic problems of Alexandra following the protests which shut down the township a month ago.

Alexandra residents were demanding that Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba come and listen to their concerns. Mashaba declined to visit the township and blamed the ANC for coordinating the protests.

The organisers told the inquiry that the main problems were lack of road maintenance, mushrooming  illegal structures, land invasion, poor refuse collection and lack of development.

The inquiry is being held at the Eastbank Hall in Alexandra.