Own municipality for Malamulele the key to Vuwani’s problems?

It's official. After malicious and devastating protests that left many schools and businesses burnt and pupils losing almost three months of their schooling, residents of Malamulele finally have their municipality.

The Municipal Demarcation Board made the formal announcement last week, that Malamulele and parts of Vuwani, Tshikonelo, Mulenzhe, Mashau, Masakona and Bungeni are now a new municipality, which is still to be named. The announcement has been the best news for the people of Malamulele, who are in a celebratory mood.

For years this community fought tirelessly to have their own municipality, separate from Thulamela. The spokesperson for the Vuwani-Malamulele Demarcation Task Team, Mr Khwara Nenngwekhulu, described the announcement as the best thing to have happened for the people of Vuwani and Malamulele. "We know that it is for the best for the community and we have no doubt the new municipality will deliver service to the people and people will not regret the decision."

He said that they were appealing to the people who were against the idea "to come on board and we work together for the benefit of our people."

The decision came, however, as a thorn in the flesh of some people from certain quarters in  the Vuwani area, who feel betrayed. Even before a formal pronouncement could be made, protest marches were held in Vuwani. The seriousness of the situation in the area forced the premier to visit the area, leading to the calming down of the situation. Since then, many leaders from the province have visited the area in an effort to quell tempers.

A new wave of violence started after the announcement of the new municipality's borders and residents of the Vuwani area accused the government that they must suffer in an effort for the government to appease the people of Malamulele. The aftermath of the violence has been devastating, with many businesses looted and burnt and even private cars set alight or damaged.

This time around, the community demands that Pres Jacob Zuma must visit the area to solve their problem.

"We have done everything in the book to show our displeasure at being part of a new municipality that we did not ask for, but this government chose to disregard the voices of the masses and to enforce a bantustan disguised as a municipality on the people of Vuwani. We will never be part of the new setup where we were sold out for the benefit of the people of Malamulele," said Mr Arnold Mulaudzi of the Pro-Makhado Demarcation Task Team.

Mulaudzi added that the president was their last hope. "The arrests of our people would not deter us in the fight against our incorporation into the new order. We regard the onslaught by the police against our people as very barbaric, as they did nothing to supress protestors in Malamulele, " he said.

Sources close to the situation point out that tension is simmering when it comes to the way forward after the formal announcement, with traditional leaders opting for the legal route, while some militants opted for a complete shutdown. "I think a complete shutdown is not the right way to go as it will disadvantage our people on the ground. Many of our people depend on selling goods in town for a living and would not survive when there is a total shutdown. The worst part is that we suspect that our just struggle has been hijacked by a third force, the EFF, which wants to see anarchy and lawlessness in the area to tarnish our good name," said a community member who did not want his name mentioned.

On Tuesday, a meeting organised by traditional leader Livhuwani Matsila gave the police, community structures and traditional leaders a platform to chart the way forward in the troubled area. During the meeting, Chief Matsila said he was worried after seeing the situation go from bad to worse in the area. "As traditional leaders, we cannot not just sit and pretend as if nothing is happening. Our area is burning and a lot of damage has been caused to property. Many members of the community have been arrested and some have been injured in confrontation with police."

He mentioned that crime and anarchy were on the increase and that they could not keep quiet "while the police fail to control the situation".

Matsila further indicated that they agreed that the police should not confront the community as it sometimes angered protestors in peaceful marches. It was also agreed that leaders of the protestors would guide their people and work with the police in rooting out criminal elements among their ranks.

It was agreed that the community would meet on Wednesday and that Cooperative Governance Minister Pravin Gordhan would adress them on their problems. (At our going to press, the outcome of the meeting was not yet known.)

Date:07 September 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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