Vuwani protests calm, but violence reported

The violence-stricken area of Vuwani in Limpopo was calm but tense on Thursday morning.

This as the total shutdown of services protest action by irate residents continues for the third day, with no end in sight. Residents have been demanding that the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) reverse its decision to merge Vuwani with Malamulele and other surrounding villages to form a new municipality.

The demarcation has previously been to court, where locals appealed it unsuccessfully. During last year’s local government elections, many residents opted to take part in a local soccer tournament, vowing not to take part in the polls until their demands were met.

The shutdown commenced a week before the Easter break and was then suspended. The protest action that has already left two people dead this week has also seen children barred from going to school, while shops, taxis and buses have been prevented from operating.

Early this week, two people died after the car they were travelling in crashed into a pipe used to barricade one of the roads.

Grade 11 pupil Wanga Vhutshiwa said he wished the protest action could end soon or, if it continued, he and his peers be allowed to go to school.

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula was on his way to the area, and a police officer could be heard communicating with his colleagues over the radio saying there were some protesters hurling rocks at passing motorists at a nearby village.