Municipal councillors in the North West are behind violent protests in the province, premier Job Mokgoro told the Ngaka Modiri Molema district prayer meeting at the Mmabatho Convention Centre on Wednesday.

Since he took over as premier, Mokgoro has been experiencing service delivery problems in the province with the supply of water on top of the list.

He encouraged the residents to always take responsibility of their decisions, urging them to pray hard for an end to violent crime and called for unity in the province.

A 17-year-old boy stabbed a seven-year-old grade 1 pupil to death in Makapanstad a week ago. The incident followed the death of a teacher after he was stabbed by a 17-year-old pupil in Dinokana village last month.

While the province was experiencing a wave of crime, residents at Ramokokastad had been on a mission to get the attention of President Cyril Ramaphosa to appoint an administrator to lead their tribal council.

They claim the provincial government has failed to find a solution to who is the rightful chief of Baphalane in Ramokokastad.

The residents said they had taken this bold move after realising that the premier's efforts in resolving the matter were not enough.

“The government needs to return things to where they where, so that the lives of the residents can continue," Mokgoro said, noting it was a shame that those given the responsibility to lead in municipalities were the ones leading the protests, most of them with the intention to stop service delivery.