The communities of Khutsong and Moutse will contest the demarcation issue in the Constitutional Court, their attorneys said on Thursday.
”We are now in a process of compiling papers,” said Rudolph Jansen of Lawyers for Human Rights.
Jansen said papers for Khutsong would be filed soon and Moutse’s later.
He said the communities were complaining about the lack of consultation before the areas were incorporated into other provinces.
”The consultation that was carried out was a sham. It was not an open-minded consultation,” Jansen said.
Khutsong was incorporated into North West from Gauteng, while Moutse was incorporated from Mpumalanga into Limpopo.
There have been widespread protests about the incorporation in Khutsong and schooling has been disrupted for more than a month.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported that about 4 000 residents of Moutse marched to the municipal offices in Groblersdal in protest against incorporation into Limpopo on Thursday.
Some protesters carried placards reading ”Jacob Zuma help us.”
Although marchers were told that the mayor, Dickson Masemola, was not available to receive their memorandum, they vowed to wait for him outside the municipal offices, the SABC reported.
Arrests
Meanwhile, North West police on Thursday said that eight more people had been arrested in Khutsong, bringing the total since Wednesday to 21.
Ten were nabbed for housebreaking and theft in connection with looting incidents, the other 11 for public violence, said Superintendent Louis Jacobs.
All were expected to appear in the Khutsong Magistrate’s Court.
The arrests were made between Wednesday morning and 9am on Thursday and follow the looting of a Score supermarket and the burning down of a spaza shop. No further violence has occurred since then.
”Police have brought in extra personnel from across the province,” Jacobs said.
On Wednesday a truck was burnt out when it was petrol-bombed and police Nyala armoured vehicles were also petrol-bombed but not badly damaged.
Khutsong is part of Merafong municipality, which was incorporated into North West province last year after previously being part of Gauteng.
There have been widespread protests about the incorporation and schooling in Khutsong has been disrupted for more than a month. — Sapa