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ANC dominates election, but independents on the rise
By Anton van Zyl and Kaizer Nengovhela Last week’s local government elections caused no major upsets as far as the political balance in the Vhembe region is concerned, but it did cause some ramblings within the opposition political parties. Many of them lost support, while a select few scored surprising victories.
It was an election marked by a much lower voter turnout for all parties except the ANC. For some strange reason the ANC’s supporters arrived in almost exactly the same numbers as during the 2016 elections. One theory is that this trend reflects the strong grip that the ANC has on the traditional leadership in the Vhembe region.
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Shortly after the elections the spokesperson for the Able Leadership (AL) party, Mr Lucas Magadagela, complained about the manner in which traditional leaders allegedly coerced their subjects into voting for the ruling party. “That is completely out. Democracy allows people to be individuals,” he said and condemned instances where voters were given regalia and influenced not to vote freely.
Vhembe District Municipality
The ANC claimed 20 of the 24 seats, compared to the 19 in 2016. The 218 650 votes were slightly less than the 221 260 the party gathered in 2016.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are still the official opposition in this Council, albeit with only two seats. The party could only lure 18 465 votes, compared to 2016’s 26 237. The Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) each won one seat. The PAC actually received about 600 more votes than in 2016, but it was not enough for more than one spot on the council.
Dunani Baloyi, spokesperson for the EFF in Vhembe, was clearly disappointed with the results. “We didn’t perform good during the local elections. It happened because people didn’t show up for the polls,” he said. He said that the many independent candidates that contested the elections also had an influence on the EFF’s performance.
“In the next five years we’re going to hold the ANC accountable and we will make sure that the governing party deliver services to our people. There is nothing new that the ANC will do for our people. They failed to do anything in the past 27 years, what difference will they make now? As EFF we will continue to expose their shenanigans,” he said.
Makhado Municipality
The ANC won 37 of the 38 wards in Makhado, only losing Ward 8 to the DA. The ANC also increased its total number of councillors to 62, six more than the 56 seats in 2016.
The DA holds on to its title of being the official opposition, but the party could only secure five seats, with less than 7% of the voters putting their crosses next to this party. In 2016 the DA won nine seats.
The EFF also lost two seats, going from seven in 2016 to five this year. The party collected only 4 168 ward votes and 4 515 votes for proportional representation (PR).
The remainder of the seats went to the African Christian Democratic Party (1), The African People’s Convention (1), the International Revelation Congress (1) and the Vryheidsfront Plus (1). The Vryheidsfront Plus surprised by taking seats in both Makhado and Musina municipalities. The general consensus is that the party played their cards well by putting up a candidate in all wards. Knowing that the candidate would not likely be elected, it did allow them to collect all the isolated votes in wards which helped them to gain a PR representative.
The DA’s Ward 8 councillor, Pierre Smalle, said that he is disappointed with the voter turnout in the more rural wards. He was, however, satisfied with the support from the town residents. “The DA remains the official opposition and we remain committed to combat maladministration,” he said.
Smalle said that his aim is to immediately start focusing on the backlog in the establishing and maintenance of infrastructure. “We plan on working together with the business sector to address the burning issues,” he said. The DA also plans to push that funds be obtained from the provincial and national governments for various projects.
Notice of application for an Environmental Authorisation and Water Use License Application for the proposed Venetia Mine Independent Power Producer Project
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
De Beers, as part of the Anglo American Group, proposes the development of a solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity-generating facility close to the Venetia Diamond Mine. The facility is intended to reduce the mine’s consumption of grid-supplied power by procuring locally and sustainably generated solar power. The majority of electricity generated by the proposed PV facility will be used solely by the Venetia Mine.
This project requires Environmental Authorisation in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) and the NEMA Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations (GN R 982 of 2014), and the National Water Act, (Act No. 36 of 1998).
Zutari (Pty) Ltd (previously, Aurecon) has been appointed as the Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) to undertake the application for an Environmental Authorisation and Water Use License for this project. Zutari is, at this stage, only completing the Scoping phase of the legislated Scoping and EIA process.
LOCATION
The solar electricity-generating facility and associated infrastructure are proposed to be developed approximately 80 km west of Musina and 36 km north-east of Alldays, in the Musina Local Municipality, Vhembe District Municipality in the Limpopo Province.
The proposed sites are located near the De Beers Venetia Diamond Mine. Two site alternatives have been considered. Both alternative sites are on the De Beers’ property, within its Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve. These proposed site locations are referred to as the northern parcel (Regina 68MS) and the southern parcel (Drumsheugh 99MS).
LISTED ACTIVITIES
Legislation Activities
National Environmental Management Act (Act No. 107 of 1998) as amended ► GN R983 of 2014 Listing Notice 1 (Basic Assessment): Activity 11 (transmission line); 12 & 19 (working inside and within 32m of a watercourse); 24 (development of roads); Activity 27 (clearance of indigenous vegetation) ► GN R984 of 2014 Listing Notice 2 (Scoping and Environmental Impact Assessment): Activity 1 (generation of renewable energy); Activity 15 (clearance of indigenous vegetation) ► GN. R 985 Listing Notice 3 (Provincial Basic Assessment): Activity 4 (development of roads in a protected area), 10 (storage of dangerous goods), Activity 12(e) (clearance of indigenous vegetation)14 (watercourse disturbance within a protected area);
National Water Act, (Act No. 36 of 1998)
► Section 21 (a): Taking water from a water resource. ► Section 21 (b): Storage of water. ► Section 21 (c): Impeding or diverting the flow of water in a watercourse. ► Section 21 (i): Altering the beds, banks, course or characteristics of a watercourse.
OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE
For more information, to register as an Interested and Affected Party (I&AP) or to submit comments, please contact us via email, post, or phone, no later than 12 December 2021:
Thulamela Municipality
The ANC made a clean sweep in Thulamela, winning all 41 wards. The party also managed to do this in 2016. As far as total seats are concerned, the ANC increased its majority by winning 71 of the 81 seats (compared to 2016’s 64 seats).
The EFF is still the official opposition in this Council, winning four seats. In 2016 the party had eight representatives in Thulamela. The DA also halved their representation, winning only two seats compared to 2016’s four.
One seat each now belongs to the International Revelation Congress (IRC), the ACDP, The African People’s Convention (APC) and the PAC.
The IRC’s spokesperson, Mr Khakhathi Tshisikule, said that they are satisfied with the outcome, because they managed to secure seats in both Makhado and Thulamela municipalities. He said that they are tired of the “ANC’s propaganda which promises jobs for all during elections” which ends up with them giving jobs to their card-carrying members only.
“We believe the ANC government is cursed. The ANC needs help and our country also needs to be saved from the ANC ‘s sinking ship,” said Tshisikule.
Collins Chabane Municipality
The battle for votes was quite intense in this municipality, but it also reflected the internal battle within the ruling party. A number of ANC members, who did not make it onto the ANC’s list of candidates, stood as independents. The ANC’s list of candidates was severely criticised, as it seemingly did not reflect the will of the various communities. The list also contained the names of several “tainted” people, who are accused of corruption.
In Ward 18 one such independent, Phillip Munyai, secured almost 57% of the vote, which meant that the ANC could not make a clean sweep in this municipality. When one looks at the performance of all the independent candidates, the underlying picture is even clearer. The 13 independent candidates received 4,37% of the total support. Had they contested as a party, the independents would have secured more seats than parties such as the DA.
As it stands the ANC won 55 of the 70 seats, compared to the 60 seats in 2016. The official opposition is the EFF, with seven seats, one more than in 2016. The DA and Able Leadership (AL) each won two seats. The other parties that each won one seat, are the ACDP, the APC, the Know Your Neighbour (KYN) party, the PAC and the Ximoko Party.
The president of the KYN party, Munarini Thanyani, said that for them, as a newly formed party, it was a learning experience. He said that they are satisfied by winning a seat on the Collins Chabane Municipality. ”Our role in council would be to ensure that the council delivers as per mandate given to it by the voters of this country,” he said.
Thanyani said that councillors should stop turning councils into a battlefield and they should not enrich themselves at the expense of ordinary people. “There is a lack of understanding that once a group of people are being elected in public office, they are expected to serve the public as a legislative body not as political parties, because a council is a legislative body. Once the council is sworn in, it becomes a governing body, and political party issues should not feature again. KYN will fight to see that South Africans gets what they voted for,” he promised.
Musina Municipality
Even in this much smaller municipality the dynamics stayed much the same. The ANC increased the number of seats it holds from 18 to 19. The role of official opposition is still shared by the EFF and the DA. In 2016 both parties won three seats each, but this was no reduced to two seats each.
The Freedom Front Plus surprised by winning a seat on the proportional representation, which means that a new party will feature in this municipality for the next five years.
The voter turnout in Musina Municipality dropped, as was the case in most parts of the country. In 2016 the total valid votes (Ward and PR votes) stood at 47 154. Last week the total votes came to 40 669.
The ANC’s spokesperson in Vhembe, Tshifhiwa Dali, assured residents of the region that the ANC will not abuse its majority in the various councils. He said that their strategy will be to consult with the other parties to assist in unblocking service delivery challenges.
“All our councillors are expected to conduct monthly meetings to brief our communities on the progress report on the acceleration of service delivery. Our success is also based on the priority list of the non-negotiables, such as health care service, reducing crime and also fighting poverty,” said Dali.
School destroyed in late night fire
(From page 1)
Nemaname said that they have had to send learners back home the next day so that police could finish their forensic investigations. “The estimated damage is over a million rand. This is one of the poor rural schools in the Nzhelele area and we have 452 learners, 13 educators and 15 classrooms. Five of the classrooms were built by the struggling community of Tshikombani,” he said. “We are calling on anyone who might have seen anything, or know about the fire, to give information to the police. As parents, we must promote the culture of learning.”
Vha Musanda Vho-Ntshumeleni Lusunzi of Tshikombani village said that it is the first incident of this nature since the school started in 1977. “We are pleading with the local businesspeople to help by donating photocopy machines,
(From page 1)
The provincial secretary of the ANC, Soviet Lekganyane, said that they had received the memorandum from the supporters of the ANC Vhembe region. He said that the PEC executive will look at their grievances and will respond. He further said that the ANC will interview the various mayoral candidates next week. According to him, academic qualifications will be an important criteria when candidates are considered.
On Wednesday, during an interview on Phalaphala FM, the chairperson of the ANC in the Vhembe region, Tshitereke Matibe, said that all processes were followed when the nominations were done and the names were submitted to the PEC. He said that on 18 November the process of interviewing the candidates will be finalised and the names of the mayors, chief whips and speakers for the municipalities will be announced. so that the kids can write their exams next Monday,” he said.
The spokesperson for the Limpopo Department of Education, Ms Tidimalo Chuene, said they have received the disturbing news about the fire at the school and trust that the police’s investigations will reveal what had happened.
Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said that they have opened an inquest docket and investigations are underway to determine the cause of the fire. “It is still premature to point a finger and the community must help the police by giving information.”
A mayoral battle
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Four suspects arrested - two linked to murder of police officer
By Kaizer Nengovhela The police made a major breakthrough when four suspects were arrested in Kwa-Mhlanga in the Mpumalanga province on 5 November. Two of the suspects are linked to the murder of police officer, Lt-Col Freddy Masuvhelele. The late police officer had been shot and killed at his business premises in Malonga, Vuwani on 8 October this year.
Masuvhelele (58) was attached to the police in Limpopo’s Intelligence Unit and owner of Masuvhelele Enterprise.
On the day of the incident, three unknown men arrived at Masuvhelele’s convenience shop (which is on the same premises as his house). Two went into the shop, while the third one stood outside, watching Masuvhelele, who had been tending to his chickens upon arriving home. The two men inside approached the till, where Masuvhelele’s two children worked, pretending to buy cigarettes. When they produced a gun and pointed it at the children, the children ran out of the shop. The robbers fired shots in their direction, but did not hit them. At the same time, the man outside shot and killed Masuvhelele. The assailants made off with an undisclosed amount of cash and a cell phone and fled the scene in a white VW Polo.
According to provincial police spokesperson Motlafela Mojapelo the suspects had also been terrorising communities and businesses in the Vhembe and Mopani Districts. They were linked to business robberies, car-jackings, rapes, murder and theft.
Mojapelo said that members of the provincial tracking team and the provincial investigations unit, with assistance from Tracker South Africa, received information that led them to Kwa-Mhlanga in Mpumalanga. On arrival, the suspects were cornered at their hideout and allegedly started shooting at the police. The police returned fire and one suspect, aged 31, was shot and seriously injured. The other three, aged between 24 and 31, were apprehended.
According to Mojapelo, the suspects allegedly hijacked a couple at Mashamba village in the Waterval policing area on the day before Masuvhelele’s murder. They shot the man and robbed the couple of their cell phones and cash. They then drove off with the couple - the man shoved inside the trunk of the car and the woman handcuffed. On the same day, they targeted another couple. They also hi-jacked this couple, leaving the first couple behind. They later shot and killed the man.
The suspects continued with their hijacking and robbery sprees and in the process reportedly shot and injured a female traffic officer. Mojapelo said that during the arrest and search, police recovered three 9mm pistols, 500 rounds of live ammunition, police handcuffs and pepper spray as well as cell phones and car keys. He said that the preliminary investigations revealed that one of the firearms belonged to a police officer and was reported stolen in Giyani earlier this year.
The suspects will soon appear in various magistrate’s courts in the Vhembe and Mopani District on charges ranging from murder, rape, car-jacking, business robbery, theft and attempted murder. They had to first appear before the Mpumalanga authorities on charges of possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, possession of suspected stolen properties, attempted murder and murder. The outcome was still pending at the time of going to press.
Masuvhelele’s younger brother, Thabelo Masuvhelele, said the family members are very relieved that the suspects had been caught. “We are happy that the police have finally arrested the suspects because nobody felt safe after what had happened,” he said. By Kaizer Nengovhela Three elephants roaming the vicinity of Ha- Lambani have communities living in that area in a state of panic.
The elephants have apparently been spotted since 6 November. No-one had been attacked by them, but residents are terrified of these giant animals so close to home.
Vhamusanda Vho-Phanuel Nevhupfumba called on the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism and KNP to ensure that the park’s fence is reinforced. He said that the elephants are believed to have escaped from the KNP and authorities have been informed.
“The residents found the elephants on the streets,” said Nevhupfumba. “I’m very worried because that thing is very dangerous. When they come here we panic a lot. You run away from that thing. Now we hear rumours that there are more, so the community are living in fear for their lives.”
According to Nevhupfumba, it is not the first time that the community see elephants around the village. Three months ago four elephants had been spotted in the same area and it also had to be reported to the department, who came out to inspect the situation.
Community member, Mr Rudzani Gelebe, said that the sight of elephants wandering around in the streets has struck fear in the hearts of residents. He advised anyone who sees an elephant to immediately call the authorities.
Mr Zaid Kalla, spokesman for the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism, said they have learned of the stray elephants roaming around Ha- Lambani village and rangers from their department have been deployed to search for the animals.
“We will investigate where these elephants originate from. We often have a situation whereby wild animals cross over from the other side of the border to this side to feed in the bushes. Sometimes they wander off too far and end up at the villages and disturb the peace,” he said. “We plead with community structures in the area to alert residents about the presence of the elephants and to warn them to avoid the animals at all costs. They must not approach these animals. The stray elephants will soon be driven away to ensure community safety.”
Vhamusanda Vho- Phanuel Nevhupfumba of Ha- Lambani village shows the evidence that elephants are roaming the area. Photo supplied.
Vhembe Civil Society Network’s members marched to the Department of Social Development (DSD) in Polokwane on 29 October, where they handed the DSD a memorandum of grievances and concerns.
Victim Empowerment Programs get cold shoulder (and no money)
By Tshifhiwa Mukwevho Vhembe Civil Society Network (VCSN) - a coalition of about 23 victim-empowerment organisations within and around the Vhembe District Municipality whose mandate is to fight gender-based violence - marched to the Department of Social Development in Polokwane, where they handed over a memorandum of grievances and concerns on 29 October.
The VCSN, who has been in partnership with the Department of Social Development in the district, said that over the years they had been affected by the way funds were being channelled to NGOs that had contracts with the Department of Social Development. They were not happy with late payments from the department to victim-empowerment programmes that depend on the funds to provide essential services.
The memo reads: “We are supposed to be paid in advance before the beginning of each quarter but instead we are paid in arrears. In this regard, please be reminded that, as NGOs, we don’t generate any income, so it is not possible to borrow money elsewhere to provide for essential services while we are still waiting for the release of tranches from the department.”
They provided an example where the district office told them that the Vhembe VEP Sector had not been budgeted for and that matters were going to be worse next year. They (VCSN) demand to be paid in advance to avoid services’ being compromised. “The Department has contravened … the Service Level Agreement (SLA), which stipulates that the department has undertaken to make funds available to NGOs rendering services per submitted approved business plan,” the memo further reads. “It is again our demand to be paid two tranches at a go, for the previous and current quota.”
The VCSN is further concerned by the lack of proper communication from the department, where they make decisions without first consulting the NGOs. These decisions often affect the NGOs. They raised the issue of maltreatment by the department. “We have over the years always been treated with disrespect, just like last year when there was 15% cut on the payments to NGOs, and these were never communicated to us,” it continued. “This time around, the department has not paid out our previous tranches, which were supposed to be paid in the first week of July and in the first week of October 2021. As far as we are concerned, we were just notified last week that the VEP Sector has not been budgeted for and the Provincial Office will have to re-allocate the budget first.”
They are also worried that no funding adjustments have been made, which has so far taken place even though the number of their clients and services keeps growing. They stated that no funding adjustments had been effected in the past 10 years.
“The money which we are receiving doesn’t even carter for the cost of living and will not address the minimum wage which has been imposed by the government, even if organisations have applied for exemption,” said VCSN chairperson Mr Tshilidzi Masikhwa. “We cannot afford to pay employees R3 300 per month with the money we are getting from the department. It is sad to notice that the department gives preference to crèches and home-based cares who have basic salaries of about R3 300.”
Masikhwa added that the fact that the frontline personnel assisting victims of GBV got paid less than R1 000 per month was appalling. “GBV is now a priority for everyone as echoed by our president, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa,” the memo said. “We have noticed that other districts such as Mopane are not encountering the same challenges as Vhembe District. As a result of raising the same concerns for more than 10 years, we have resolved to a total shutdown until our MEC takes note of our concerns.”
The VCSN handed the memorandum over to the DSD and demanded a prompt reply within seven working days. Failure to do so will result in a total shutdown of the VCSN-affiliated organisations’ offices and all offices of the DSD in the entire Vhembe District, they warned.
The Department of Social Development’s spokesperson, Mr Witness Tiva, confirmed that the memorandum was received. He explained that the DSD was badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and as such they were unable to budget and release funds to the NGOs. “However, we are trying by all means to ensure that this matter gets addressed as soon as we can, and when we do that, we will involve the affected parties,” he said.
Voters “punish” the ANC by supporting an independent
By Maanda Bele The ANC’s controversial list of candidates in the Collins Chabane Municipality nearly backfired badly on the party. In various wards independent candidates, who did not make the ANC list, opted to oppose the ruling party’s candidate. The independents managed to secure 4,37% of the total votes and in one ward an independent ousted the ANC’s candidate.
In Ward 19 the ANC had Thomas Mbedzi as its candidate. Mbedzi is the brother of Thina Mbedzi, the former ward councillor and technical services portfolio head at Vhembe District Municipality. This seemingly did not go down well with the community, who preferred Phillip Munyai. When Munyai was not elected as ANC candidate, it was decided to let him stand as an independent candidate against Mbedzi.
During the 1 November elections Munyai managed to get 56,86% of the votes for a new ward representative. By doing this he managed to take away a ward from the ANC and became the only independent candidate to serve on the Collins Chabane Municipality.
Mashudu Sithomola of the Tshitomboni branch of SANCO said that the community felt let down by the ANC when it came to the nomination of candidates. “The nomination process was marred by corruption with a family trying to hijack the leadership of the ward and when we tried to raise it with the ANC Vhembe region, we could not get any help,” he said.
Sithomola said that they remain full members of the ANC, but they want to see things being done in a proper way. “Excluding our chosen candidate was the last straw and we are just happy that by the grace of God, with no resources for campaigns, we managed to bring back our councillor who initiated many projects in our ward,” Sithomola said.
Phathutshedzo Ramabulana who is the spokesperson for the independent councillors in Vhembe said that they had fielded independents who are mostly disgruntled members of the ANC to show their dissatisfaction with the way things were being done in the ANC.
“We are happy that Munyai won the ward,” he said. “We had hoped that all wards would do that to teach the ANC a good lesson,” he said.
Phillip Munyai, an independent ANC candidate, came out victorious in the Local Government Elections.
Body of a baby found in Tshiozwi
By Kaizer Nengovhela The community of Tshiozwi is deeply disturbed after a group of children stumbled upon the body of a new-born baby lying in the street. The gruesome discovery was made on Thursday, 4 November.
The shocked children immediately ran to inform their elders. The police were called, who rushed to the scene with undertakers in tow. According to eyewitnesses, the baby was carelessly dumped in the street, its umbilical cord still attached.
“Why on earth would anyone do this? How can any normal parent dump such a wonderful gift from God in this manner? Some people can’t even conceive. This is unacceptable,” said Ms Lebo Maemu, one of the village locals.
Maemu told Limpopo Mirror that she was at her house when the children came screaming and informed her that a baby had been found in the street. “I rushed to see what they had found, and indeed there was baby in the street. The dead little body was naked, and its umbilical cord was still hanging from it. It was a fully developed baby boy. I don’t know if the woman who threw the baby away is local or someone from another village.”
Another resident, who asked not to be named, said that they did not know who had dumped the baby there. “The street where the baby was found is next to the D3715 road going to Kutama, so the mother could be from another village,” the resident said.
Curious community members, some of them with tears running down their faces, looked on in pain as the undertakers took the little baby to the mortuary.
Provincial police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed that an inquest docket was opened and that they are investigating a case of concealment of birth. “The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated,” said Mojapelo. The body of the baby boy will be kept at the mortuary while police continue with their investigations.
Anyone who can assist the police in tracing the mother, or may know of any woman who had recently been pregnant and may be linked to this case, is asked to please contact the police immediately. Alternatively, call the Crime Stop number on 08600 10111.
Forensic pathologists at the scene where the body of a newborn baby was discovered in Tshiozwi. Photo supplied.
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