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The message is clear: They want their own municipality.

Malamulele brought to a standstill

 

Malamulele town came to a standstill on Monday, when thousands of protestors from the township and all the villages around the town took to the streets.

The marchers were protesting after they had learnt that their application to have their own municipality had been turned down by the Municipal Demarcation Board.

During the march, all businesses, schools and the whole town came to a halt. Angry residents blocked the streets with burning tyres, metal scraps and rocks.

Throughout the day, the police, who were on high alert, maintained their presence with Casspirs and many vans. "The mother of all marches" started at the civic centre, where government offices are housed, snaked through the township and finished back at the local stadium.

At the stadium, protestors were addressed by leaders, where it was announced that government officials were not there to receive a memorandum.

The protest march is a result of a 10-year struggle by the people of Malamulele to have a separate municipality autonomous from the Thulamela Municipality. During the transitional local government period, Malamulele had its own municipality, called the Levubu Shingwedzi TLC.

The move by residents is said to have been sparked by a lack of service delivery in the area, nepotism and alleged corruption in the Thulamela Municipality.

Dr Isaiah Ndhambi, spokesperson for the Malamulele demarcation task team that organized the protest march, said the march was born out of the frustration they were going through in their fight to have their own municipality. "We have done all that is required of us when applying for the municipality and we were very shocked to learn that the municipality demarcation board had turned down our application. We are really saddened that, after receiving the go-ahead from Thulamela and Vhembe and also the former MEC, Clifford Motsepe, releasing us to have our own municipality, the demarcation board came with a different view," he said.

Ndhambi said they had documentation from those offices and they had even attached them to their application. "The response which came three weeks ago is so frustrating and disappointing. They did not grant us the status and, after we had relayed the message, our people demanded this type of gathering to chart the way forward. This is just a peaceful march to register our concern," he said.

He said Malamulele qualified as per the number of residents, villages, wards and nine recognized traditional leaders with a vast population. "Musina and Mutale have very small populations compared to our area, but they do have their own municipalities. This is the first step. We will have a way forward. After all, we need to know from the board where we went wrong, so that we can correct our mistakes in order to get our own municipal status," he said.

After the crowd had bee na ddressed, it became evident that the mayor was not present to receive the memorandum. "We have made all efforts to get her here but seemingly she has snubbed us,” added Ndhambi.

From the stadium, the multitudes went to the local police station and the mayor appeared and received the memorandum. She promised to send the memorandum to the relevant authorities.

Asked for comment on the matter, municipal demarcation board CEO Gabusile Gumbi-Masilela said the application by the Malamulele communities could not get the green light as they did not meet the set requirements. "We had a careful look at the application and found that Malamulele lacked an adequate tax base, which is as a result of poverty and unemployment. This does not mean that they could not apply again," she said.

By Tuesday, Malamulele police spokesperson W/O Alson Mapindani said the area was calm but that 18 cars belonging to government had been damaged during the protest. "While we were busy controlling the crowds at the stadium, unruly mobs turned to criminal activities, damaging cars and looting a shop in the town. We arrested two people in connection with the looting," said Mapindani.

He said they had opened cases of malicious damage to property and could not rule out the possibility of more cases being opened. "Our investigations are continuing,” said Mapindani.

In the meantime, The Congress of the People (Cope) echoed the sentiments of the protestors. The Vhembe regional chairperson of the party, Cllr Geoffrey Tshibvumo, said in a media statement that “if the  Musina municipality can be a municipality with only six wards, why can’t Levubu Xingwedzi be made one? The excuses made by the Municipality of Thulamela and the demarcation board are unacceptable and are not based on facts."

Tshibvumo added that it was time that the government "start to listen to the people and to start to see reason." According to him, the request made by these communities is not based on tradition or ethnicity.

 

Read more:

09 September 2013 - Malamulele "freedom" is nigh, but at what cost

18 October 2013 - More people arrested in ongoing chaos in Malamulele area

Fire everywhere.
Police remove some of the barricades.
Angry protestors carry a pole as a sign of their demand for their own municipality. A pole is "pala" in Xitsonga, referring to the Xitsonga masipala, or municipality.
The spokesperson for the Malamulele demarcation task team, Dr Isaiah Ndhambi, addresses the protesters at the stadium.
Barricades.
 

Date:30 August 2013

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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