More schools torched in Malamulele

Three more schools were torched yesterday in Malamulele, Limpopo, as the community continued to demand that they be granted their own municipality.

Following the burning of Malamulele High School's administrative block on Monday, the chaos continued unabated in the area.

Police spokesman Colonel Ronel Otto said: "We are unfortunately stretched ... it is a vast area and we cannot guard every school."

Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe condemned the burning of the schools by residents. He told the SABC that "no amount of protests can give rise to people destroying property and not allowing our children to go to school".

He said law enforcement agencies needed to ensure order was restored in the area.

Malamulele has been under lockdown for four weeks, with schools and other services shut down.

To make matters worse, on Friday the Municipal Demarcation Board rejected the area's application for a separate municipality.

At the centre of the Malamulele protest is that the current municipality, Thulamela, which is based in Thohoyandou, does not deliver basic services.

The residents say their area, dominated by Xitsonga-speaking people, is being ignored and does not receive its fair share of service delivery because of tribal politics.

Thulamela municipality is dominated by TshiVenda-speaking residents. "Our lives are run in Thohoyandou, and when you phone [for] an ambulance or firefighters it takes hours before they respond," said one resident .

The Economic Freedom Fighters yesterday came out in support of the people of Malamulele.

EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi pleaded with residents not to vent their anger on VhaVenda residents. He said they should direct their frustration at the ANC.

"The people of Malamulele should know that their enemy is the arrogant, lying and misleading ANC government which makes commitments [it] cannot keep.

"They must refuse to degenerate into ethnic stereotypes or clothe their struggles in that regard," he said.

Provincial ANC secretary Knocks Seabi said the violence and vandalism were the community's way of expressing unhappiness about the decision of the demarcation board.

"At some point the service delivery challenges in Malamulele will be a distant memory but the missed opportunities for learning and prosperity for our young will always haunt us," Seabi said.