Who fuels the violence?

Among the people accused of fuelling the violence in Vuwani is a councillor of Makhado municipality, and this has sparked the debate about who is responsible for the unrest that has so far disrupted the lives of thousands of people. Pamphlets distributed across the region accusing prominent politicians of being involved in the issue created even more confusion.

Early on Wednesday morning, thousands of pamphlets were distributed in Louis Trichardt, as well as in areas near Vuwani. The pamphlets, compiled and distributed by an anonymous source, lash out at the “leaders” responsible for the mayhem.

“The people behind this situation are known but feared … These leaders are not leading us to future (sic) but serving their own interests … These leaders are behind this violence,” the pamphlet reads. The author(s) of the pamphlet then point fingers at prominent people such as the mayor of Makhado and Chief Masia, accusing them of financing the violence. Names of a list of people allegedly responsible for the “torching of schools” are mentioned, as well as the names of more people allegedly supplying money to fuel the violence.

On Wednesday morning, dozens of the pamphlets could still be found on the pavement in front of Makhado Municipality. Seemingly, no-one bothered to clean up the mess or remove the pamphlets.

The Vuwani issue also reverberated in Parliament the past week. The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Des Van Rooyen, told the National Assembly that the decision to amalgamate Vuwani with parts of the Malamulele municipality was made on the basis of forming municipalities that were economically viable‚ sustainable and able to deliver services to citizens. But this “led to unhappiness within the Vuwani community‚ which is largely Venda-speaking,” he said.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP, Floyd Shivambu, blamed the protest action on internal African National Congress (ANC) battles. “It’s mostly intra-ANC squabbles because the mayor of Makhado is from Vuwani, so when he is demarcated into the new municipality, Malamulele, he realises that it’s not going to be a possibility of him becoming a mayor again,” he said.  

A former municipal manager of Makhado and currently Communications Minister, Faith Muthambi, urged the communities of Vuwani and the surrounding villages to refrain from using the municipal demarcation issue to disrupt learning activities in the area. “Those who are disrupting academic activities at our schools should know that they are infringing the rights of students to learn,“ the Minister said on Tuesday during a visit to the affected areas.

The mayor of Makhado, Cllr David Muthavhatsindi, was phoned on several occasions on Wednesday, in an effort to get a comment and also to find out whether he intends to take any action against the persons responsible for distributing the pamphlets. His phone just rang and he did not respond to messages.

The spokesperson for the Makhado Municipality, Louis Bobodi, was reached late on Wednesday afternoon. He said that they were aware of the malicious pamphlet that was being spread throughout the district. “The mayor distances himself from all the allegations carried in the pamphlet. If the authors of the pamphlet believe that what they are alleging is true, they must come out and approach their lawyers, who will then address this matter in a lawful, proper way,” said Bobodi.

The SAPS's Makhado cluster spokesperson, W/O Kedibone Mabatha, said on Wednesday that they had no knowledge of the pamphlets. He could not confirm whether any charge had been laid with the police.

Date:23 May 2016

By: Anton van Zyl

Anton van Zyl has been with the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror since 1990. He graduated from the Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) and obtained a BA Communications degree. He is a founder member of the Association of Independent Publishers.

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