Carletonville

The month-long school boycott continued in Khutsong township near Carletonville on Friday. Some matric pupils, who had not been taught in the last five weeks, blamed the government for the lost study time. ”The person who decided to move us to the North West is to blame …,” Mamsy Khumalo, a grade 12 pupil at Badirile High School, said.

President Thabo Mbeki should personally intervene in the Merafong municipality demarcation issue, religious leaders in Khutsong said on Wednesday. ”We ministers of religion want to see peace restored and we plead with the president … to personally intervene …,” they told reporters in Carletonville.

The Merafong municipality, which includes Khutsong, says it is pleased that elections will take place there and hopes law enforcers will protect voters during and after elections. Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi has urged voters in the Merafong municipality to vote for the party of their choice on Wednesday.

Thousands of Khutsong residents marched to the local police station on Wednesday to protest the transfer of Merafong municipality from Gauteng into the North West. The group earlier threatened to boycott the March 1 local government election. ”If this is democracy, then we are willing to die for it,” said one protester.