This week members of the Vuwani community in Limpopo torched 13 schools, a satellite police station and tribal offices after losing a High Court case to have their area remain under the Makhado municipality. The Demarcation Board took a decision last year to incorporate Vuwani into the Malamulele municipality.

What we are not being told is that the chaos in Vuwani today has a history. The government has failed to deal with the root causes of the protests we see in Vuwani and surrounding areas.

We are told that the chaos is driven by tribal politics, influenced by access to state power.

But there are real fears that Tshivenda-speaking Vuwani residents will be marginalised if their incorporation into Malamulele, dominated by Xitsonga-speaking people, is not reversed.

These are sentiments on the ground that officials cannot dismiss.

While we condemn the torching of valuable infrastructure it is important that the government and all stakeholders find interim solutions. If we are to fully tackle the suspicions that some communities would be worse off if they were incorporated into another municipality, we should look into the local government structure and how it is funded.

Tribalism and tribal politics must be defeated. Services must be provided equitably. No community must be seen to be benefiting more than another.

Having said that, we appeal to the community of Vuwani to seek better ways of expressing their frustrations.

Burning down schools and other public amenities takes the struggle backwards and exposes the leadership deficiency we see across our country.