Protesters have burnt 13 schools in
two areas in South Africa's northern Limpopo province in a violent
dispute over district boundaries, police say.
Government officials appealed for an end to the violence, saying it affected the education of hundreds of children.
Protesters
say moves to include their neighbourhoods into a new municipality would
delay efforts to get them better housing and water.
South Africa is due to hold key local government elections in August.
Opposition
parties hope to make gains at the polls, arguing that the governing
African National Congress (ANC) has failed to improve basic services
during its 22-year rule.
The ANC disputes this, saying most people have a far better
standard of living since it took power at the end of minority rule in
1994.
Eight of the 13 schools were torched overnight, bringing to
13 the number of schools targeted since Monday, reports the BBC's Pumza
Fihlani from the main city Johannesburg.
On Friday, protesters failed in a court bid to prevent the inclusion
of the mainly poor Vuwani and Livubu areas into a new district
authority.
The government says the plan is vital to developing the two communities.
South
Africa has a history of violent demonstrations, going back to the days
when people protested minority rule and it seems that this attitude
still remains, our correspondent says.
People are often so
frustrated about the lack of basic services like electricity and water
that they resort to vandalism, targeting schools, libraries and even
clinics, she adds.
The government has often criticised the violence, saying it would leave communities worse off.
Limpopo is one of South Africa's poorest provinces, where the ANC has won previous elections by an overwhelming majority.
The
main opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance and Economic Freedom
Fighters (EFF), hope to weaken the ANC's hold in the province in the
August elections.
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