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Nyiko Shibambu and Phanuel Dhlamini at the old Xingwedzi College of Education.

“Change Xingwedzi Multi-purpose Centre into FET”

 

“The South African government should stop making us feel ashamed to say the words ‘Our government’”.

Phanuel Dhlamini, representative of the Malamulele youth, said those words while showing Limpopo Mirror’s journalist the old Xingwedzi College of Education and the bushy playgrounds in Madonsi village, Malamulele.

“We want the government to quickly help us change the so-called Xingwedzi Multi-purpose Centre into a further-education-and-training institution (FET),” said Dhlamini. “It will be easier for young people to get education close to home, because some of them cannot afford to pay for transport and accommodation at distant FETs.”

According to Dhlamini, the facilities of the old college are being used for accommodation for police officers, student nurses from other colleges and various other people, and the centre is now known as the entrance to the Xingwedzi Education Multi-Purpose Centre. "This new name is the opposite of what it means," he said.

During 2011 and 2012, the youth, represented by Dhlamini, wrote a letter highlighting the challenges facing their villages and the youth to Thulamela Municipality.

“Last year, the Department of Agriculture gave us the go-ahead to use the market and show grounds, because the place is no longer of any use to them since it is broken and dilapidated,” he said.

After getting permission to use the market and show grounds, the youth then wrote letters dated 30 June and 8 August 2013 to Thulamela Municipality and the Department of Sports, Art and Culture, requesting them to clear the bushes and grade the sport fields.

“They haven’t responded yet. All they do is just put their stamps on our applications and hand us copies,” he said.

Dhlamini said that there were tennis, basketball and volleyball courts in Malamulele, but they were all broken and damaged. “They need to be repaired and the Thulamela Municipality is ignoring us and our pleas,” he stated. “Now we want the municipality to tell us where to get help to renovate those facilities and use them. Believe me, those facilities produced great talent way back from 1998 to 2000.”

People who made use of those very facilities include Stella Mathebula and Adolf Maboya, who were later appointed provincial and national basketball coaches. “Their players competed in the USA, Canada and Australia,” Dhlamini illustrated. “This only tells us that there could be more great talent in this area if we were given the relevant support.”

Dhlamini said that the government had misinterpreted the demonstration and march which happened in Malamulele in August last year and said it “was influenced by elements of tribalism”. “We know nothing about tribalism here in Malamulele – political leaders always say things to suit themselves and the national media,” he said. “Both VhaVenda and VaXonga live in peace and harmony here; we work and own businesses together.”

Dhlamini said that the youth of Malamulele were only demanding equal services from the government.

The spokesperson for Thulamela Municipality, Mr Nndwamato Tshiila, said that he did not understand why it could seem so difficult for the sport grounds to be graded. He advised the Malamulele youth to contact him directly, so that he could take them to the relevant office within the Thulamela Municipality. "They will get helped," he said. "They must also bring the said letters as proof to show that the municipality hadn't been attending to their requests."

News - Date: 17 April 2014

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The entrance to the Xingwedzi Multi-Purpose Centre.
The soccer field.
The old market and show grounds in Madonsi, Malamulele.
The buildings and the bushy grounds at the old market and show grounds.
 

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Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

Email: [email protected]

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