Malamulele residents embark on total shutdown

Malamulele residents have embarked on a continuing protest, urging the Vhembe District Municipality to address service delivery in their area, especially concerning water and the upgrading of roads.

This is not the first time residents have protested about water and roads. In 2022 and in March this year, residents marched to the office of the Malamulele Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, handing over a memorandum of demands. Some of the demands included the upgrading of the D3647, D3645, S3668, and D3660 roads. These roads lead from areas such as Madonzi, Dinga, Greenfarm, and Xigalo to Malamulele town. When handing over the memorandum, the residents threatened with a total shutdown of the Malamulele area if the department did not respond within 21 days.

Since Monday, learners have not been attending school, and all public transport services are unavailable. “We will only stop protesting when our demands have been met,” said Simon Sithole, the chairperson of the Concerned Community Group. Sithole told Limpopo Mirror that on Monday, the community task team had met with the Vhembe District Mayor, but no progress had been made in resolving the service-delivery issues in Malamulele.

The Department of Public Works, Roads, and Infrastructure (DPWRI), together with the Roads Agency Limpopo (RAL), has since dispatched a team of engineers to inspect the condition of the roads and recommend possible interventions. The inspection team established that problems observed on the roads were primarily water-related challenges. According to the DPWRI, the permanent solution to resolve road challenges in Malamulele would be to upgrade the roads to blacktop surfaces with efficient drainage systems. However, no funds are currently available to upgrade the listed roads.

Date:09 May 2024

By: Bernard Chiguvare

Bernard Chiguvare is a Zimbabwean-born journalist. He writes mainly for the online publication, Groundup.

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