Many time bombs like Vuwani

VUWANI, the tinderbox of Limpopo, is a time bomb that affects us all. The problems began almost two years ago when the government announced its intention to merge Vuwani, which up until then had been part of the Makhado Local Muncipality, with parts of three other local municipalities – Musina, Mutale and Thulamela – to form a brand-new municipality.

The residents protested, destroying infrastructure and setting up to 30 schools alight, burning them to the ground.

Thousands of school pupils were denied their right to education by protesting adults, others had nowhere to go to be taught in an environment where many classrooms tragically remain a spot of shade under a tree, a place where those schools had been a gift beyond compare.

The issue had been about consultation, where the communities had felt that a decision – ratified by a high court – had been forced upon them, which while legal might not have been ethical.

There was other tension, ethnic mostly, which had not just been unresolved but rail-roaded through.

On May 7 this year, President Jacob Zuma and the Vha Venda king, Toni Mphephu Ramabulana, announced that Vuwani would be served by the Vembe local district authority.

It’s four months later and the community has lost patience once more. They have threatened to bring the entire community to a standstill once again.

This year’s matric class is particularly vulnerable as they are about to start writing their matric trial exams.

We understand the community’s frustrations, but we abhor the implicit threat of violence, the destruction of property and the risk to children’s education.

The question is why have we come to this yet again? Are the civil servants and members of the task teams at the root of this impasse incompetent?

Are they wilfully obstructing the path of progress?

The harsh truth is that there are many more Vuwanis, all primed to explode in the absence of leadership – as we all fixate on the leadership struggles within the ruling ANC.

National government needs to step in and throw the book at the guilty parties, before it’s too late and other communities start taking the law into their own hands.