Police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, said 12 of them had been arrested on Thursday.

“Members made three more arrests overnight, bringing the number of suspects to 15. They were arrested in connection with the public violence at Vuwani and Levubu. More arrests are expected,” said Ledwaba.

He said 23 schools were torched so far, with 18 of them partially damaged. A tribal office, a post office and vehicles were also reduced to ashes allegedly by angry protesters. Public transport and businesses had been shut down in the past few days.

President Jacob Zuma sent Deputy Minister of Police Maggie Sotyu, Minister of Cooperative Governance, David van Rooyen, and State Security Minister, David Mahlobo, to the troubled Vuwani area on Thursday to assess the damages and bring stability in the violent torn district. Zuma had earlier on Thursday condemned the violence during his budget debate in Parliament.

The ministers assessed the damage at the schools and held a media briefing in Thohoyandou.

Mahlobo told reporters that security would be strengthened, with specialised units brought in and posted across the district to quell the violence.

A provincial task team has since been established to deal with the crisis.

Protesters barricaded roads, stoned passing cars and battled riot police after community leaders announced that they had lost a high court battle to have their area excluded from the new municipality that would include Vuwani and Malamulele.

A Limpopo High Court on Friday ruled against the Vuwani community’s application against the MDB’s decision to include their villages in the new municipality.

Vuwani residents had launched a high court bid following an announcement by the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) in 2014 that one municipality in Limpopo’s Vhembe district would be demarcated to fall under the newly planned municipality.

Residents said that they wanted to remain under the Makhado municipality and argued that they were duped in understanding that the MDB consultation only meant that Mutale would be dissolved thereby enhancing existing villages.

Van Rooyen told reporters that there was nothing government could do to reverse the process that had been further stamped by a court of law.