Makonde village came to a standstill on Sunday afternoon, 12 February, when angry villagers blocked roads with big rocks, bricks and other items to bar people from getting into or out of the village. Residents accuse their acting traditional leader, Vho-Nyadzeni Ravhura, of terrorising the villagers with a vigilante group, known as Tshiswole tsha Makonde.
The national road between Thohoyandou and Tshilamba was also blocked, where trucks carrying perishable foods were delayed for more than four hours. The police had to intervene when villagers threatened to confront the vigilante group, accused of making their lives a living hell for more than three years, physically.
They said the group members were using a big container that was used by the municipality to store goods when the new stadium was being built. The municipality apparently left it at the stadium when they were done, and this group had taken it, put it up next to the post office and used it as their office.
The chairperson of the South African National Civics Organisation (SANCO) at Makonde village, Mr Boshoto Ravhura, who is also a member of the Makonde royal house, said that the strike was eventually called off after talks with the police to prevent bloodshed. Both parties (SANCO and the police) agreed that they would meet again on Monday (13 February).
Ravhura said the residents were fed-up with the traditional leader for intervening and stopping police investigations. "The police are not doing anything to investigate murder cases in the village. The vigilante group went to Raluvhimba Secondary School and beat kids up and molested girls in broad daylight. The principal opened a case, but the police have not arrested anyone to date," he said.
Shortly after the meeting between the police and SANCO at the local police headquarters in Sibasa on Monday, the two parties briefed the media on what had happened. "The acting traditional leader, Vho-Ravhura, was ordered to disband his vigilante group with immediate effect. Failure to do so will lead to their being arrested. As SANCO Makonde and the organisers of the strike, we were also ordered to clear all the debris and rocks from the road," Ravhura said.
When asked whether the meeting had restored their trust in their local police, he said that it had not. "I still believe that the local police are captured by this vigilante group. We want to see criminals being arrested first before we can trust them. At the moment, they are still on a WhatsApp group with the criminals."
Meanwhile, the acting traditional leader of Makonde, Mr Nyadzeni Peter Ravhura, denied all the allegations levelled against him by members of SANCO and their followers. He said the people who were called a vigilante group were members of his own personal security.
He said SANCO Makonde had called a community meeting without his permission as the traditional leader in the village, and he had not attended the meeting. He agreed that he had met SANCO at Sibasa Police Station to iron out the problems at Makonde, where SANCO had complained about the government container, his security guards and the traditional leadership.
"I told them that those guys are there to protect me. They are not a vigilante group. They were also helping to solve minor problems in the community. If they were beating up people, that was not brought to my attention. But from Monday, the group will never help in protecting the community. We agreed that they will only do the job I hired them to do, which is to protect me at all times," he said.
On the question of the container, he said he had asked permission to use it from the Thulamela Municipality, which was given to him. "We also agreed the container would be returned to the stadium," he said.
He added that he would like to warn the community of Makonde not to be dragged into traditional-leadership battles. "The leadership issues of Makonde are being handled by Thovhele Kennedy Midiyavhathu Prince Tshivhase, who is the leader of the Tshivhase Dynasty," he said.