Relative calm has returned to Vuwani, outside Thohoyandou in Limpopo, following skirmishes with police.
Earlier, police used rubber bullets to disperse residents who had gathered to discuss their participation in the upcoming general elections.
Community members have said they won’t vote on 8 May if authorities still refuse to reincorporate the area into the Makhado Local Municipality.
“Well the situation is completely under control as you can see that we are here monitoring the situation to ensure that nothing happens. Well in terms of the laws of the country anybody who wants to gather, that person needs to make an application and an approval must be obtained, in this situation the organisers didn’t apply for this particular gathering that is why as the police we will not allow it to take place. We know that there were people who were attempting to gather but our Public Order Policing (POP) had to deal with them,” says Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo.
#Vuwani – Some residents in Vuwani led by the Pro-Makhado Task Team are meeting to discuss whether to participate in the polls next week. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/Z8gQxEvlCn
— SABC News (@SABCNews) May 5, 2019
#Vuwani – Residents want their villages to remain under the Makhado Local Municipality and not be included under the Collins Chabane local municipality which was established during the last municipal elections. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/vOL8dv8lsF
— SABC News (@SABCNews) May 5, 2019