Demarcation board finally to rule on Vuwani issue

After several years that saw the community of Vuwani burning over 20 schools when they refused to be included into a newly established municipality, the Municipal Demarcation Board has now proposed to consider their demands.

The demarcation board last week published a circular with a list of proposed re-determination of municipal boundaries which included the Vuwani community in Limpopo, who are now under Collins Chabane local municipality, to be considered back to Makhado, the municipality they refused to leave. 

In 2015, the community of Vuwani, which is made up of about 30 villages, blockaded roads with stones and torched over 20 schools as they protested against being included into Collins Chabane. The shutdowns culminated in the boycott of the 2016 local government elections.

Pro-Makhado Task Team chairman Arnold Mulaudzi said they welcomed the proposal, although they have had to wait a very long time for this decision.

“It's almost eight years since we rejected the move (to Collins Chabane) and the demarcation board only want to do the right thing now. Our resolution as the task team is to go back to Makhado... and that has not changed. However, next month we will call community meetings to solicit their views on the matter,” he said.

Vuwani was exempted from receiving services after they resolved that they wanted nothing to do with Collins Chabane. Mulaudzi said they only participated in the Integrated Development Plan of the Collins Chabane municipality in the hope of getting municipal services.

In the circular, the demarcation board stated: “Proposed redetermination of the municipal boundaries of Makhado local municipality and Collins Chabane local municipality , by excluding Vuwani community from the municipal area of Collins Chabane local municipality, and by including it into the municipal area of Makhado local municipality .”

Another task team member, Takalani Mukhudi, said after the shutdown they made several written submissions to the board, with the latest being last year.

“We are very clear with our mandate that we need to be in Makhado. It is very worrying that after so many years, we still have our comrades who are still appearing in court for public violence, and we think government should have resolved the issue long ago,” he said.

Demarcation board spokesperson Barileng Dichabe said the legislative process had no consideration for “taking back” any areas and the board was embarking on a new process of municipal boundary re-determination.

“All the proposals will be dealt with in terms of the demarcation criteria as outlined in section 24 and 25 and process as outlined in the Municipal Demarcation Act (MDA). Only proposals that qualify with the criteria would end up with a municipal boundary change and those that don’t qualify would not have any change,” she said.

Dichabe added that the board  requested proposals since the opening of the process in November 2021 and received proposals for boundary changes. The closing date for submission of proposals was March 31 2022.

“This is only an intention to consider the proposals. Members of the public and stakeholders are allowed to submit inputs within 30 days from the date of publication. This is where the process is now. No boundary has been re-determined and no final decision has been taken yet,” she said.

After the 30 days has lapsed, the board will consider all inputs received and decide if there is a need for change and also conduct public meetings between June and July.