Kruger Park road blockaded as kids warn of ‘new June 16’
Limpopo town erupts in protest against board decision ruling out municipality
PROTESTERS in the Limpopo town of Malamulele barred tourists from Kruger National Park’s northernmost gate at Punda Maria yesterday until they were driven away by police firing rubber bullets.
The protesters threw bricks at the police before leaving.
The clash came just a day after the municipal demarcation board rejected the town’s application to become a separate municipality. The town falls under the Thulamela municipality, seated in Thohoyandou about 30km away.
Protests in the town have kept children from school since the new term began and led to tyre-burning in some areas.
Resident Aubrey Maluleke said schools would be disrupted until the town’s demands had been met. “Just like the June 16 uprising, this generation of schoolchildren are leading this struggle and they are willing to sacrifice their education.”
Residents said this week that life had been better when they were governed by an apartheid bantustan administration. Malamulele then fell under the Giyane municipality, part of the Gazankulu bantustan.
“All the schools, roads, and the hospital we have were built by the Gazankulu administration. The Thulamela municipality only cares for people of Thohoyandou,” said community leader Steve Mahlale.
Thohoyandou was the capital of the Venda homeland.
Residents of Malamulele, a mainly Tsonga area, accuse the Thulamela municipality of sidelining them for jobs and basic services such as water.
“Our taps are dry and yet we have a dam not far from our area,” said resident Lucky Mthethwa.
He said that under the new dispensation, the local police station, hospital and schools were dominated and led by people from Thohoyandou. “We are not tribalists, but most of the police officers and the administration staff and even teachers come from Thohoyandou.”
As far as he could remember, nothing new had been built under ANC rule, he said.
“Time has stopped in this area. Nothing is happening, so our anger is justified. For two weeks now, Malamulele has been under lockdown. Schools and businesses have been closed following a community decision to fight the national government,” said Mthethwa.
Another resident, Doctor Masango, said they were protesting to bring services to the people of Malamulele.
“We have seen that the ANC is failing to give the people services. We think they definitely can help us. Every time we ask government for help, they tell us they can’t control the municipal demarcation board because it is a Chapter 9 institution.
“Since when do they listen to Chapter 9 institutions anyway? The public protector is a Chapter 9 institution that makes recommendations which they never listen to,” he said.
Those leading the protest ac- tion wore white T-shirts with the words “100% Malamulele Municipality, No Delaying Tactics” printed on them. Protesters set an ANC T-shirt alight before burning tyres.
In rejecting Malamulele’s request, the demarcation board said going it alone would deprive the town of resources pro- vided by Thulamela. It would then also depend on government grants for up to 82% of its budget.
The board also said separating the Tsonga-speaking people of Malamulele from the Venda speakers of Thohoyandou would be harking back to apartheid. This would “reintroduce apart- heid boundaries and undermine nation-building by separating the community along tribal lines”, it said.
A task team has been assembled to work with the demarcation board and the Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department to address the community’s grievances.