Another Vuwani school torched as leaders meet over violent protests
Another school has been set alight at a village in Vuwani in Limpopo this afternoon, bringing to more than 20 the number of education facilities that have been torched and vandalised over the last few days in the area.
Two building blocks at the Mariadze Inclusive School were in flames, with residents who were on the scene telling reporters they didn't know who was behind the arson.
Police are on the scene.
Residents have left a trail of destruction which began at the weekend, after they lost a High Court bid to stop the Demarcation Board's decision, to move the town from the Makhado Local Municipality to a newly-created municipality.
Pressure has been mounting on government to declare Vuwani and other parts of the Vhembe District Municipality disaster areas.
Student body, Cosas has given the Department of Education and the Police Ministry five working days to intervene, warning that failure to do so will result in pupils taking matters into their own hands.
Cosas’s Khulekani Skosana says the fact that children have been unable to go to school because of protests in the country is unacceptable.
"Schools can no longer be used as a bargaining tool whenever a community is angry. It is damning to find that at this stage of a democratic South Africa, more than 300 schools in South Africa are closed and we think it is high time that our parents stand up and say no this. We expect every citizen to stand up and call order to this," he said.
A governmental task team has been in meeting with traditional leaders in Thohoyandou today to try and put an end to the ongoing violence.
Earlier, it was reported that Local Government Minister Des Van Rooyen was headed to Vuwani.
President Jacob Zuma also condemned the burning of schools and other public facilities in Vuwani while replying to the Presidency Budget Vote Debate in Parliament today.
"I think we need to look deeper into this because there have been rumours that in many of these protests, there are some motives behind and some people take advantage. This is shocking. If you're talking about a school or two - that's one thing. Seventeen schools - it looks suspicious," he said.
(File photo)