Pretoria – Cabinet has condemned the conduct of some residents in Malamulele, Limpopo, who have disrupted schooling as a way of raising grievances.
“This robbed children of their right to education and denied some the right to register for their Grade 12 supplementary examinations,” said Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Jeff Radebe.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet briefing on Thursday, the Minister urged communities and organised structures to work with government under the leadership of the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, to ensure that the challenges in Malamulele were resolved.
Residents in Malamulele were protesting for weeks, demanding a municipality that was separate from Thulamela. During the rolling protests, learners were barred from attending school.
A fifth school was burned on Wednesday morning in the area, a day after learners in Malamulele attended classes for the first time in 2015.
“The establishment of a municipality in Malamulele should be within the confines of the law prescribed by the Demarcation Board,” Minister Radebe said.
Cabinet condemns attacks on foreign nationals
He said Cabinet also condemned the attacks on foreign nationals. “No amount of economic hardship and discontent can justify criminal activity associated with these attacks,” Minister Radebe said.
Last month, violent attacks erupted in and around Soweto and Kagiso after a teenager was shot dead in Snake Park.
Mthetheleli Siphiwe Mahori, 14, was shot dead, allegedly by a foreign shop owner. He was apparently part of a group that tried to rob the shop.
Locals took to the streets and looted more than 80 shops owned by Somali, Pakistani and Malawian nationals across the township, including Braamfischerville, Dobsonville, Emdeni, Maphetla, Zola, Naledi and Protea Glen.
“South Africa is a signatory to the Geneva Protocol on Refugees and is committed to protect all foreign nationals in the country.
“As a signatory to this Protocol and as a country that cherishes human rights, we will protect the basic rights of every human being within our borders, including foreign nationals,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
