The Minister of Cooperative Governance, Mr Des van Rooyen, has urged the communities of Vuwani and surrounding areas not to boycott the upcoming municipal elections.

Van Rooyen, accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Kebby Maphatso, the MEC for Coghsta, Makoma Makhurupetje, and other high-ranking officials, met with Khosikhulu Vho-Toni Mphephu Ramabulana and senior traditional leaders of affected areas at the king’s palace in Dzanani last Friday. It was reported that the leaders of the Pro-Makhado task team also attended the meeting.

It follows the long shutdown of services, including schooling, in Vuwani and surrounding villages. During the protests in the area, the Pro-Makhado Task team have vowed not to allow the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to operate in the area because of the municipal demarcation stalemate.

Some residents do not want to be incorporated into a new municipality in the Vhembe district. More than 20 schools were set alight and vandalised when protests against the demarcation turned violent. Members of Pro-Makhado, a community structure that does not want their areas to be incorporated into the new municipal entity, have vowed to continue with their protest until the municipal demarcation board's decision is reversed. It was also reported that the members of the task team had instructed their traditional leaders not to sign an agreement to allow the community to cast their votes on Wednesday.

The concerned traditional leaders from Vuwani say they are still going to engage with their subjects, but some community structures do not want to sign an agreement that will see the protest action suspended until after the municipal elections. They have committed to allowing schooling to start on 4 August, after the election. Traditional leader Thovhele Vho-Nthumeni Masia says they are still to brief their subjects on the latest development over the demarcation stalemate.

“Obviously after these kind of engagements we shall engage our respective subjects to bring them on board on the kind of discussion we have had with the government, so that they appreciate or raise fears, if any, on the process. This is because the ultimate objective is to solve the problem either way as soon as this problem becomes history in the near future,” says Masia.

Van Rooyen said protesting communities should not violate the rights of others. He said that the elections awee very important and people should allow all the people to vote. “At the same time, we want to say to them if they do not exercise this right themselves, they are denying themselves an opportunity to elect the leaders who will represent them. The person will represent them and engage with us as we solve their problems. We want them to reconsider this position of not going to vote and electing leaders of their choice,” said van Rooyen. 

At the time of our going to press it was still not certain if the community will be able to cast their votes in the Vuwani area. It is expected that the police will be on full alert to defuse any possible volatile situation.