Vuwani – Limpopo police are struggling to restore calm to Vyeboom, west of Vuwani township, as villagers continue their protest against government’s plans to demarcate their area into a new municipality.
Big stones, man-made holes and barricades on the road bear testimony to the fact that there is no free movement in the area. For residents to make use of public transport they had to walk a long distance to a junction under police eye.
On Wednesday evening police moved into the area to look for the suspected arsonists as they battled to retake the streets so that schools in Vuwani can be reopened. Police spokeswoman Colonel Ronel Otto said a number of people were arrested for questioning.
“Vyeboom is a very difficult are as we remove the rubble and blockades but people return and block the streets again,” said Otto.
The strife is continuing despite traditional leaders having accepted a government proposal to suspend protest and engage in further talks to resolve the municipal boundry dispute.
Schools in Vuwani and surrounding areas were set alight after residents lost a high court bid to stop the Municipal Demarcation Board from incorporating their area under the new Malamulele municipality.
The burning of schools has left over 60 000 pupils without class rooms, prompting fears that matric pupils will not be able to write mid-year examinations which are a requirement for them be able to sit their final examination.
More than twenty schools were torched, apparently by protesting residents.
On Wednesday, State Security Minister David Mahlobo made a call to educators to return to schools, saying the security threats has been cleared. However, the Professional Educators Union (PEU) said its members were still traumatised and wary of further violence in the area.
PEU provincial spokesman Class Mohlatlole said: “Government does not care about the safety and trauma they suffered, as teachers were forcefully evicted from their workplace.”
He added: “After the government met with stakeholders, they should have addressed traumatised teachers and guaranteed them their safety and not announce it on the radio.”
Educators have expressed concern that teachers who return to school were being threatened by pupils. In some areas however pupils whose schools were torched were starting to study in mobile classrooms deployed by government after their schools were burnt.
Since the last school was burnt at Mashau Doli, government ministers deployed by President Jacob Zuma were engaged in talks with traditional leaders to end the violence. But protesters have insisted that they would continue with the struggle to force government to reverse its decision to include their areas under the Makhado municipality.
A local pastors forum, which lead peace prayers, accused government of negotiating in bad faith.
“Government is side-lining the communities, engaging with traditional leaders,” sad the forum leader Dean Alunamutwe Rannditsheni.
Rannditsheni said the government was using “divide and rule” tactics.
“People are not free to express their mind, as one part are allowed to talk, and the other not allowed. It will fuel further violence,” he said.
Rannditsheni said this approach would engender mistrust between communities and their leaders. The areas of Tshimbupfe and Malonga remained barricaded with stones, timber and other objects.
In a statement, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) said its members were willing to return to work but the situation was not conducive to teaching.
“It should be indicated that conditions in Vuwani do not allow schooling to just take place, simply as buses and taxis do not provide access deep in the villages,” said Sadtu.
African News Agency