Vuwani on the boil again

The long-standing battle by residents of Vuwani against their inclusion in a new municipal entity (Lim 345), took another turn during the weekend, when residents decided on another indefinite shutdown. Lim 345 includes areas of Malamulele and Hlanganani.

The previous shutdown left more than thirty schools either torched or damaged in the area.

The latest shutdown follows on the heels of a decision by the affected traditional leaders in the area to pull out of all the talks with government over the demarcation issue. The traditional leaders had made new submissions to the board following the court’s refusal to have the boundaries changed, but the demarcation board again rejected all the submissions.

This did not go down well with the community, who wanted to hold a meeting at the Nandoni ground on Sunday to chart the way forward. The residents were, however, prohibited from doing so by police, who told them that their meeting was illegal. Earlier on, the leadership of the community had received a letter from Lim345 informing them they could not hold such a meeting as they did not apply for it.

The whole town has since Monday been a ghost town with businesses shut down completely. Government offices are not operational and the residents have made it clear that they would not accept any service from the new municipal entity.

The Pro-Makhado Task Team spokesperson, Mr Nsovo Sambo said that the residents have decided to continue with the shutdown until the demarcation issue has been addressed. He said they have briefed their lawyers and they hope they would be given permission to hold their meeting.

Meanwhile, Limpopo police spokesperson Lt-Col Moatshe Ngoepe said that the two suspects who had been arrested about the renewed violence in the area appeared in the Malamulele Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. “They have been charged with malicious damage to property and incitement to commit public violence. Their cases were remanded to the 31st of May. Takalani Mulaudzi (29) was released on R500 bail, while Thapelo Ngwana (26) was released on warning. Both were released on condition that they cannot interfere with the investigations and the witnesses.”

Ngoepe further indicated that the situation in the area was calm, with police monitoring the situation. He said they have deployed a large group of policemen in the area as part of a proactive exercise.

Date:06 April 2017

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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