Breather for Vuwani revolt

The total shutdown of services in the troubled area of Vuwani, in Limpopo, has been suspended to allow people to celebrate Easter weekend.

The area was tense for the better part of last week after a primary school was set alight amid a protest action over demarcation issues.

Irate residents in the area are demanding that the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) reverse its decision to merge the area with Malamulele and other surrounding villages to form a new municipality. The protesting residents have made it clear that they want to remain under the Makhado local municipality.

Speaking to The Citizen yesterday, spokesperson for the Pro-Makhado task team Nsovo Sambo said they had also been approached by different businesses requesting them to suspend the protest action, which has seen children being barred from going to school, while taxis and buses have not been allowed to operate.

“We considered the requests and decided to suspend the shutdown only for this Easter week, but immediately after the Easter weekend we will continue with the protest action,” Sambo said.

Meanwhile, last week, the task team distanced itself from the school arson incident, saying it strongly condemned the act, which robs the country of its future.

“These barbaric and criminal acts also undermine the genuine struggle of the people of Vuwani,” he said.