'We have not given up on Vuwani'‚ says Des van Rooyen

Cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister Des van Rooyen has said the Limpopo provincial government was committed to finding a lasting solution to the Vuwani demarcation impasse.

“We are not giving up and we will never give up on our people‚” he said.

“As you know we work within the legislative framework and inter-governmental relations accords the provincial governments the power to manage issues of governance in their respective provinces and as we speak now there is an inter-ministerial committee on that situation‚ we know very well that the province is seized with finding solutions to the situation in Vuwani.”

• Two suspects due in court over Vuwani violenceTwo suspects are due in a Limpopo court later on Tuesday‚ following renewed protests in Vuwani over the inclusion of the area into a new municipality with Malamulele‚ police said. 

Speaking in Pretoria on Wednesday ahead of the third Presidential Local Government Summit‚ the minister the national government would intervene accordingly if needs be.

Vuwani‚ near Thohoyandou in Limpopo‚ has flared up again after residents took to the streets on Sunday following the Municipal Demarcation Board's rejection of their municipal boundary review application.

Residents of the troubled Vuwani and neighbouring areas want to be excluded from the Malamulele municipality and submitted a review application after an inter-ministerial team struck a deal with leaders to suspend protests in July 2016 and consider making an application instead.

• Vuwani vow indefinite shutdown in renewed protests over demarcationResidents of Vuwani in Limpopo have vowed to shut down the area indefinitely should government continue to deliver services through the rejected LIM 345 local municipality. 

The rejection of the review however incensed the residents who responded by embarking on fresh protests resulting in the shutdown of the area.

In 2016‚ more than 24 schools were destroyed during three months of protests that resulted in learners missing months of schooling as they were prevented from attending school.

The minister said the role of the MDB would feature prominently in the discussion during the summit to be held at the Gallagher Estate in Midrand from Thursday.

The minister said areas whose boundaries needed to be reviewed were highlighted during last year's summit.

• Another Limpopo school torched as road protest continuesA second school was torched in Limpopo on Monday night as residents continued protesting over a road construction project. 

He said one of the key outcomes of last year's dialogue on demarcation issues was that since its inception the demarcation Act has never been reviewed.

“We are expecting to effect amendments into this Act this year and areas that were highlighted in that dialogue will form an important part of the discussions starting from tomorrow in that summit‚” he said.

The minister said issues such as the frequency of demarcation determinations needed to be reviewed because how often this was done was critical for budgeting.

- TMG Digital/The Times