Vuwani calm again... for now

After a week of ugly and violent protests, the communities of Vuwani, which were completely shut down, returned to normality on Tuesday when stakeholders decided to suspend their protests and wait for a decision from the municipal demarcation board.

A visit by Premier Stan Mathabatha, who addressed thousands of residents at the local sports field, was enough to quell the situation in the area.

The premier had met leaders at Ha-Matsila the previous day. He succumbed to pressure from the community, who had vowed that everything would stop in the area until he came down and spoke to them. Many believe that he arrived late because he was still waiting for the court to release one of the Pro-Makhado Demarcation Task Team members, Avhapfani Mudau, who appeared in the Malamulele Magistrate's Court on public-violence charges.

The community had earlier threatened to continue with the protests and not to listen to Mathabatha if their leader was not released. Mudau was released on bail of R1 000 and arrived at the sports grounds to a hero's welcome by the thousands of cheering residents who had waited for him. He was accompanied by Thovhele Nthumeni Masia.

Accompanied by Makhado Mayor David Mutavhatsindi, Vhembe Executive Mayor Tshitereke Matibe and other government officials, Mathabatha did not take more than 20 minutes to calm down the angry community members who had gathered to hear the “good news” from him. He did not, however, mince his words when he told the crowd that they had indeed received memorandums from the community and that it was not in their competence as a provincial government to take such a decision.

"I do not want to pretend that I have answers to your problems, but we forwarded the memorandums to the municipal demarcation board, which will make a determination in 30 days. I appeal to the people of Vuwani to remain calm and wait for the demarcation board to make a pronouncement. As of now, there is no new municipality yet,” he said to wild applause by the happy community members.

After the premier’s response, residents’ leader Arnold Mulaudzi proposed that the shutdown be lifted to give the demarcation board time to make its decision. "Whether it be positive or negative, we will come back and meet in 30 days' time and we will take it from there."

He warned the police not to arouse the anger of the people by arresting their leaders. “The people of Malamulele burnt schools and shopping complexes, but no one was arrested. Here you are practising double standards by intimidating leaders by arresting them,” he added.

The suspension of the strike came as a huge relief to the business community, who had lost a lot during the protests. Some opened their businesses immediately afterwards, while others felt insecure even after the announcement. By the close of business, taxis were seen ferrying people who, for the past days, had to walk long distances to Thohoyandou to buy groceries as no shops were operating in the area.

Chief Livhuwani Matsila, one of the most influential chiefs in the Vuwani area, commended the premier for having listened to the people. "We are humbled that he respected the call by the people to come over and address us. We are happy that he clarified the notion that there is no new municipality yet and that we have to wait for the  the municipal demarcation board to make a ruling. The violent protests were sparked by a proposed merging of some parts of the Vuwani area with a proposed new municipality that would form part of Malamulele," he said.

Residents in the area had made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with the proposed municipality but wanted to remain under Makhado Municipality. Just a day after the closing of the window for objections and submissions to the Municipal Demarcation Board, protesting residents in the Vuwani area went on the rampage last Friday, barricading roads with heavy drainage pipes, burning tyres and big rocks. A police vehicle and two private vehicles were burnt, while four other vehicles were damaged over the weekend.

There was rampant looting at local businesses and thousands of rands' worth of stock were stolen.

Early on Wednesday, commuters were seen boarding buses to their respective work places. School children in their uniforms were seen travelling to their different schools in the area.

Limpopo police spokesperson Col Ronel Otto said the situation was quiet and that everything was back to normal. She hinted that motorists should be careful of barricades as there were still rocks on some of the roads. "The police are keeping an eye on the situation and will maintain our presence until we are sure all is in order," she said. 

Otto further said a suspect, Avhapfani Mudau (42), had been arrested in connection with public violence, malicious damage to property and contravention of the Gathering Act in the Vuwani area. She said a second suspect was being sought by the police. "The suspect appeared in the Malamulele Magistrate's Court and was granted bail. He was warned to appear in court on 20 October," she said.

Date:17 August 2015

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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