Government, traditional leaders sign agreement to end shutdown in Vuwani
The inter-ministerial committee on Vuwani and traditional leaders have reached an agreement to end the shutdown in the area.
The agreement was signed in Polokwane on Thursday morning.
Limpopo MEC of Cooperative Governance Makoma Makhurupetje says one of the conditions of the agreement is that those who wish to vote be allowed to do so.
As part of the agreement, government said it will re-determine the Vuwani outer boundaries 14 days after the upcoming local government election on 3 August.
The agreement aims to ensure that the shutdown comes to an end after election.
Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Des van Rooyen led the signing.
He thanked all stakeholders who were involved in reaching a resolution.
"We are encouraged that all the stakeholders in the Vhembe district have chosen to end the impasse and of course bring the situation to normalcy."
A traditional leader from Vuwani, Mbangiseni Masia, says traditional authorities will engage with the community to bring the situation back to normal.
"These communities we represent, at times are not too confident about the processes that we are involved in and it becomes our duty as traditional leaders to persuade them to see what they may not be seeing."
Vuwani residents earlier this week threatened to disrupt the election.
Speaking to Jacaranda FM News on Monday, community leader Alex Ndou said: "We declared a shutdown on 1 May until 4 August. The main important thing is for us to stop the election. We will not vote in the new municipal entity