Mayor denies role in Vuwani unrest

During the course of this week, Makhado Mayor Cllr David Mutavhatsindi vehemently denied allegations that he was responsible for fuelling the violent protests and the burning of schools in the Vuwani area.

For the past few weeks, the Vuwani area has been plagued by violent protests against Vuwani's being taken away from the Makhado Municipality and being incorporated into a new municipality as decided by the municipal demarcation board. By the end of last week, 24 schools had been torched in the area. On Monday this week, another school was targeted by protesters,  who set alight a classroom at Mawela Primary School at Serene Village. Computers, a photocopier and books were damaged in the fire.

Since the unrest had broken out, several people were arrested and charged with public violence, malicious damage to property and arson. Among those arrested for the violence is a councillor of the Makhado Municipality, Cllr Gideon Tshavhuyo. This led to widespread speculation as to who might be behind the violent protest action in the Vuwani area.

Last Wednesday, thousands of pamphlets were distributed in the Louis Trichardt and Vuwani area by an anonymous source. The pamphlets lashed out at the “leaders” responsible for the mayhem at Vuwani. “The people behind this situation are known but feared … These leaders are not leading us to future (sic) but serving their own interests … These leaders are behind this violence,” the pamphlet reads. The author(s) of the pamphlet then go on to point fingers at prominent people such as the mayor of Makhado and Chief Masia, accusing them of financing the violence. Names of a list of people allegedly responsible for the “torching of schools” are mentioned, as well as the names of more people allegedly supplying money to fuel the violence.

The Vuwani issue has made headlines for the past few weeks and reverberated in Parliament two weeks ago when the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Des Van Rooyen, told the National Assembly that the decision to amalgamate Vuwani with parts of the Malamulele municipality had been made on the basis of forming municipalities that were economically viable‚ sustainable and able to deliver services to citizens. But this “led to unhappiness within the Vuwani community‚ which is largely Venda-speaking,” he said.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP, Floyd Shivambu, blamed the protest action on internal African National Congress (ANC) battles. “It’s mostly intra-ANC squabbles because the mayor of Makhado is from Vuwani, so when he is demarcated into the new municipality, Malamulele, he realises that it’s not going to be a possibility of him becoming a mayor again,” he said.  

In the strongly worded press release issued by the Makhado Municipality on 19 May, the municipality states that Mayor Mutavhatsindi would like to set the record straight on the insinuations that he was instigating violence in Vuwani and the surrounding areas “as he feared that he would lose his position as mayor by the establishment of a new municipality in Vhembe.” The municipality states that, as a disciplined cadre of the ANC, Mutavhatsindi knows that his term of office ends on 3 August 2016. “He has been appointed for a particular term and he cannot defend that, as the ANC can deploy him anywhere at any time,” the press release reads.

Mutavhatsindi is quoted as saying: “I vehemently deny any malicious allegations levelled against me that I am responsible for the spate of violence and the burning of schools. Those faceless people purporting to be saints were hell-bent on assassinating my character for their own selfish ends. I challenge these cowards to come up in the open and open a case against me with the law enforcement agency.”

On enquiry, SAPS Makhado cluster spokesperson W/O Kedibone Mabatha said on Wednesday that the police were still not aware of any official charges being laid against Mayor Mutavhatsindi regarding the allegations contained in the pamphlet that he is one of the high-profile people inciting the violence. Mabatha also said that he was not aware of any charges being laid by Mayor Mutavhatsindi against the anonymous people responsible for distributing the pamphlet.

In total, more than 20 people were arrested in connection with the violent protests in Vuwani. Many of these, including Cllr Tshavhuyo and a teacher, Mr Edzisani Muthathe, appeared in the Malamulele Magistrate's Court last Wednesday to bring a formal bail application. The case was, however, postponed until Tuesday this week, while they remained in custody. On Tuesday, a total of 18 accused appeared in the Malamulele Court to bring a formal bail application. Their applications could once again not be finalised as a result of technical problems in court, according to the police’s provincial spokesperson, Col Ronel Otto. Their case was then postponed until Wednesday.

By the time of our going to press, the outcome of their bail application was not yet known. It was also not known how many people arrested for the Vuwani unrest had appeared in the Thohoyandou Court as Otto said that they were still awaiting feedback.

News - Date: 30 May 2016

Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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