Interview: Why were the schools burnt down?

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The vandalising of close to 30 schools through arson and other means in Vuwani from late in April to early May left the nation puzzled. Hans Pienaar spoke to a resident who prefers to remain anonymous, as he fears for his safety. The interview was done by cell phone through Facebook, as internet service is patchy or nonexistent. Reference is made in the interview to Vuwani as well as to neighbouring Malamulele, where the trouble started when a new local council was instituted in order to cover the burgeoning town of close to 200 000 people. The Demarcation Board of South Africa ruled that large sections of Vuwani should be incorporated in it to make Malamulele more viable.

Where exactly is Vuwani? How large is it and who lives there?

In Limpopo. I am not sure about the numbers, but it is mostly populated by Tsonga- and Venda-speaking people and it’s next to the Kruger National Park.

Were you shocked by the news of dozens of schools burning down? Was it something that came out of the blue for you?

No, I have been following the news since 2013 when the issue of demarcation started at Malamulele.

How do the Venda and Tsonga speakers get along?

They get along very well, with intermarriages. The problem started with poor service delivery issues from Thulamela municipality, which included the Malamulele area.

Social cohesion between the two tribal groups was very good all along.

Even now it’s just that mistrust has (de)generated into a tribalistic issue.

How do people communicate? Through English, or do they know each others’ languages?

I grew up in the area and I speak both languages fluently.

And is that the case with everybody around you, that they understand the local languages? Do you share traditional and other events?

Yes.

Are the communities isolated, or are communications not a problem?

They are not isolated – in a village you find a mixture of both groups.

But there are certain villages where another one becomes dominant, but living peacefully with one another.

You said the problems started in 2013. What was the first event that alerted you to the fact that there was a problem?

Because of lack of poor service delivery to the people of Malamulele who were attached to the Thulamela municipality, which is run by the ANC.

Can you give specific examples?

Lack of development in Malamulele which is dominated by Tsonga-speaking people compared with Thohoyandou, the seat of Thulamela municipality, which is predominantly Venda-speaking.

I heard there’s nothing in Malamulele – no offices, no roads, no clinics. Is that true?

No, that’s not true. The municipality had a satellite office there, magisterial offices, hospital and a stadium, but not big compared with the one in Thohoyandou. And remember, Thohoyandou was a capital city of the former Venda government and they inherited most of the infrastructure. And the two cannot be compared, as Malamulele was just a town extension of the former Gazankulu homeland with its capital city being Giyani.

So what do you mean by “lack of development”? Is it just that it is less developed compared with Thohoyandu?

Roads infrastructure – not tarred – and lack of water supply.

How serious was this? Did people go thirsty and did they suffer discomfort?

To me the issues raised were not genuine, because everywhere in South Africa there are challenges when it comes to service delivery.

There were people who were determined to ask for a new municipality, and the problem arose when they were told the municipality was not sustainable and they opted to co-opt other areas in Vuwani who had never asked for a new municipality and they started to object. Malamulele was the first to burn some schools and businesses and when the people of Vuwani lost their case (in the high court trying to set aside the new municipal demarcations) they resorted to the same tactics applied by the Malamulele people: burning down schools in order to force the government to accede to their demands not to be included in the new municipality, as they had never asked for it and they saw it as a way to please Malamulele people.

Why did the government want to please the Malamulele people?

Political pressure and the electioneering.

But most people voted for the ANC. How did pleasing them gain votes?

There is a challenge now, because other parties, like the EFF are gaining ground from mostly ANC-dominated areas because Malema is previously from the ANC and he is giving them a run for their money through electioneering, and when there is chaos it’s fertile ground to convince voters to look the other way.

Did the homelands play a part? Was it like the old Gazankulu homeland battling with the old Venda homeland?

No. All homelands were disbanded in 1994. Tribalism is at play now because of the impasse.

How?

People were no longer living in terms of ethnic grouping, but tribalism reared its head because of the issue. Instead of the ANC-run municipality looking at how the Malamulele people were not getting services they opted to pressure for a new municipality. It’s like diagnosing me with a headache and giving me a foot remedy. The diagnosis is good, but wrong prescription.

What is the attitude of people towards education? Are there many people who believe it is a waste of time, that it does not get you anywhere?

NO, WE CONDEMN THE BURNING OF SCHOOLS.

No, education is highly prioritised, but criminal elements took advantage of the situation.

But there is 70% unemployment among the youth in Limpopo. Surely there are people – not everybody, but some – who question whether there is any value in going to school, if it does not lead to a job?

But that is a national problem.

Which languages were used in the schools that were burnt down?

Venda and one which is Tsonga. Even during the torching of schools at Malamulele I think two were Tsonga-speaking and one Venda-speaking.

I also don’t rule out criminal elements firstly stealing electronic equipment like laptops and thereafter burning buildings to make it difficult for forensic investigators to nail them. And also the fact that schools were not burned during the day; it always happened at night.

The burning down of schools was very coordinated, as if it was planned. Do you think it was planned beforehand?

People from various villages condemned the burning of schools. Even criminals in chaotic situations can strategise because it becomes problematic for the police to manoeuvre through barricades.

An ANC councillor was arrested and a committee said there will be no schooling until their grievances are addressed. They don't look like criminals.

When you arrest people there must be a conviction and sentencing. The last case was for people who burnt a police Nyala vehicle. More than 20 people were arrested and all of them were acquitted due to lack of evidence because there was nothing that connected them with the crime. The police just want to be seen to be doing something and at the end because of acquittals they end up being sued.

Are the police doing enough?

Not really, because they brought police from all over the country who don't have the knowledge of the terrain because local police have been told if they help their counterparts from other provinces their properties might be endangered. And all these acts of burning happened at night when they are most vulnerable.

So are the local police staying away from the violence?

Yes, they are dealing only with domestic issues at the local police stations.

Why are people so eager to belong to Makhado municipality (in which Vuwani is currently incorporated)? What is the big attraction there?

The envisaged municipality does not have any infrastructure and according to the ratings it’s below Makhado, and if Makhado is unable to deliver the required services, what more about the one rated below it, because they all rely on national government for funding because there is no economic activity that is going to generate income for its sustainability.

So it's a case of things are already bad enough and now they want to make them even worse. Like the straw that broke the camel's back?

Yes. To spite the present government. They say if the president cannot respect the constitution they don’t have to either.

How do people survive in Vuwani?

Working, those who have steady jobs, and informal trading.

I understand that there are many Mozambicans among especially the Tsonga-speaking people in the area. Is this true?

Yes, there is a settlement named Xiphuraphureni in Malamulele comprising mainly Mozambican nationals, even though some of them are already settling in the villages.

Do people accept them, and is there some xenophobia among Venda people against them, since they probably speak Portuguese?

Yes, people do accept them. Not really xenophobia, except if they are found to be involved in crime.

When they are here they speak mostly Tsonga in order to integrate well with the local communities.

And they usually stay only for a while before they move on to the cities?

Yes. Others have settled permanently. Even when they go to cities they come back to their homesteads in Malamulele.

Are there many other people from outside the area who also come to Malamulele? People who have not grown up there?

Yes, like Zimbabwean nationals who also come as refugees or undocumented immigrants.

How many Mozambicans and Zimbabweans are there in the area? Percentage-wise?

I am not sure, really, but Mozambicans are many. They outnumber Zimbabwean nationals.

How big is Xiphuraphureni? How many homes would you guess? Or how many streets or blocks?

Maybe around 500 to 1 000. There is another settlement in Giyani, a nearby town similar to Xiphuraphureni. (There are several other Mozambican settlements outside Malamulele – Hans Pienaar.)

So could it also be that people rather want to be under Makhado than under a council where they will have to rub shoulders with lots of outsiders?

No. A lot of people spearheading the new municipality in Vuwani are currently not working and they are hopeful that if it’s given they might secure seats.

And with seats come all sorts of payments.

Yes. Already there are indications that they are being paid by interested businessmen from Malamulele to campaign for a new municipality.

Are people in the government also pushing the new council in order to look after their relatives and cronies?

That is why some of the properties belonging to these individuals were torched or targeted by the pro-Makhado people, because they are seen as sell-outs. Right now, until people arrested are convicted one cannot say for sure they were responsible, because another theory is that those who are advocating for a new municipality are responsible in order to discredit the pro-Makhado task team as being thugs and irresponsible.

So where does the burning of schools fit in? Most of the burnt schools were outside Malamulele, were they not?

Yes, but mostly in tribalistic tones.

Explain what you mean by tribalistic tones. Can you give examples?

Mostly those who supported the new municipality are Tsongas themselves, whereas Makhado municipality was once led by two Tsonga-speaking people and the Vendas never had a problem with that.

Even the villages that support the new municipality are the ones that fall under Makhado municipality but are predominantly Tsonga-speaking villages. And two of them are being led by one of their own. 

Another problem is it won’t be viable unless they force those who are complaining that they never wanted a new municipality in the first place and chaos might erupt again if government turns around and says they are disbanding the efforts of establishing a new municipality because under the circumstances there is no win-win situation.

Would it help to redraw borders again to have one Tsonga council and another Venda council?

No, that wouldn’t be in the interest of a new South Africa that people envisaged.

But the tribalism being allowed to be expressed in violence only is not in the interest of a new South Africa either, is it?

Yes, but people have not been re-educated that violence is not an option, as it was used before when people were fighting the apartheid regime. People need to be educated along those lines. It’s now a norm that when people have grievances they resort to violence and they say it’s the only language our government listens to, irrespective of the consequences.

That must be put on the national agenda because the violence we see in Vuwani is occurring all over South Africa . When university strikes happened last year they, too, were very destructive. Education in this instance must be a national agenda where experts must find a way that is best to deal with this scourge.

Isn't the answer to have local people represent themselves and govern themselves rather than people far away in the cities?

People understand that democracy is ruling by the will of the people and meaning a bottom-up approach, and now in this instance people of Vuwani think the government is using the top-down approach of forcing people to go where they don’t want after having not complained about the current municipality where they belong.

So how do you re-educate people? Isn't the only way to do it through the leaders closest to them using the language closest to them, leaders and language they can trust?

I think the formula of establishing a municipality must be adhered to and if it’s not feasible or viable then people who want their own municipality must be told it’s not possible rather than create a situation that is prevailing now in the Vuwani-Malamulele area.

Aren't people burning down schools because they don't want to be re-educated?

No, I think it’s a culture that was left to prevail for a long time without there being an effort to come up with strategies of how best to deal with it.

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