Zuma intervenes in seeking end to continued violence in troubled S. African township

President Jacob Zuma on Sunday undertook a site visit to the troubled township of Vuwani in northern South Africa, where continued violence has disrupted schools and businesss for months.

Zuma met with King Toni Mphephu Ramabulana of the Vha-Venda tribe in the country and other leaders representing various community stakeholders, including church leaders, traditional leaders, business and youth, the Presidency said.

Zuma and all stakeholders present at the meeting called upon all community members in Vuwani to work to bring about normalcy in the community, presidential spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said.

Violence has haunted Vuwani since May last year, during which scores of schools were torched and public properties damaged.

Residents in the area have been protesting against municipal demarcation and the establishment of a new municipality, fearing that this might affect service delivery. The protest disrupted services in some parts of the district, including Vuwani.

Following the violence, Zuma formalized a team of ministers as an Inter-Ministerial Committee to address the local residents' complaints.

Extensive engagements ensued with stakeholders in the district to try and find an amicable solution to the problems raised by communities.

But violence re-erupted lately, indicating that all efforts have failed to pay off.

This prompted Zuma to intervene by himself.

As a result of his engagement, all stakeholders agreed to provide services to the people of Vuwani while a solution on the demarcation issue is being sought, Ngqulunga said.

It was further decided that relevant national and provincial government departments should provide support to the district municipality to carry out this new mandate, according to Ngqulunga.

Zuma will go back to the district to address all community members -- those who are against the newly established municipality and those who are for it, Ngqulunga said.

"President Zuma wishes to meet everybody and benefit from the diversity of opinions. He believes that the solution to the Vuwani issue should be inclusive," Ngqulunga said.

The continued violence in Vuwani highlights the seriousness of unrest over poor service delivery in impoverished areas in the country.

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has made strides in service delivery, including housing and expanded access to clean water and electricity.

But about one million families still live in shacks without power, often sharing a single tap among dozens of households, latest figures show. Endit