Malamulele awaits the final decision on muni
THE Malamulele Task Team has called for unity as they await the final confirmation that Malamulele and Vuwani will have a combined municipality.
Orlando Chauke
LIMPOPO – THE Malamulele Task Team has called for unity as they await the final confirmation that Malamulele and Vuwani will have a combined municipality.
This comes after the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) announced that it had approved a proposal by the task team to have a separate municipality that would combine Vuwani and Malamulele.
However, there’s also a grace period of 30 days in which to make an objection if anyone feels that a municipality was not necessary in Malamulele. This is the period that the community of Malamulele and Vuwani is currently praying will lapse without any objection.
Speaking on Sunday at a community meeting to give a full report from the MDB, Hosi Magona (Charles N’umalo), the chairperson of the Malamulele Task Team, appealed for unity in the community saying an act of infighting or tribalism would give those who were against a municipality in Malamulele a reason to object.
“Now that our proposal has been approved we must guard against spreading of false beliefs that we’re tribalists…we must all work together as one so that we don’t give anyone a reason to object,” he said, adding that the unity should continue even after the municipality had been given to them.
“We must come up with a formula that will serve our people equally regardless of the language they speak or where they come from,” he said to huge applause by the gathered community, which consisted of both Shangaans and Vendas, a scene which was rare to see in such community meetings during the time of protests and shutdowns of services in the area.
Malamulele currently falls under the Thulamela Municipality while Vuwani falls under the Makhado Municipality.
Residents said getting their own municipality was a breakthrough for them after so many years of fighting to be independent. “We commend the current task team that managed to get us the municipality that we have been crying for… it is our belief that with a new municipality government services will be more accessible,” Tinyiko Maluleke, a Malamulele resident, said.
The ANCYL in the area also welcomed the decision. “We welcome the decision and we believe that this will also promote unity among the two communities,” ANCYL Malamulele chairperson, Stanley Baloyi, said.
Meanwhile, celebration is on the cards for August should no one object to the MDB’s decision.
The Masia Tribal Authority’s leader, Thovhele Nthumeni Masia, said his people would prefer getting services under the jurisdiction of the Makhado Municipality, not the new municipality. “We are not shaken and will challenge the proposal,” said Masia.
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