A tense meeting between an African National Congress (ANC) delegation led by secretary general Gwede Mantashe and leaders of the Merafong Demarcation Forum was under way in Khutsong near Carletonville, west of Johannesburg, on Wednesday.
The meeting adjourned for some time to allow the two parties to caucus.
Merafong Demarcation Forum spokesperson Jomo Mogale said residents wanted nothing else from the meeting but to be reincorporated into Gauteng.
Merafong was incorporated into North West from Gauteng after cross-border municipalities were abolished in 2006.
Residents objected to the transfer from ”wealthy Gauteng to poorer North West”.
They embarked on a number of protests, including disruption of schools, petrol bombing the homes of ANC candidates, blocking roads and destruction of municipal properties.
They also boycotted the 2006 municipal elections, which saw only 130 people casting votes.
Residents applied to the Constitutional Court asking the court to declare that the Gauteng provincial legislature failed to comply with its constitutional obligation to facilitate public involvement during the process of change in provincial borders that led to Merafong becoming part of North West.
The Constitutional Court dismissed the application, saying it was a political matter that needed to be addressed by politicians.
While the two groups were meeting, hundred of residents, mainly youths, sung liberation songs at the local stadium while waiting to be addressed by their leaders.
Heavily armed police were standing by at the stadium. — Sapa