Grade 12 pupils from the troubled Vuwani area in Limpopo will be assisted with their final exams after their schools were burnt down and vandalised in recent protests, government said on Sunday.

“The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) welcomes the hard work put in place by the department of basic education both nationally and in the province and other stakeholders who made it possible to have learners in grade 12 being able to go and prepare themselves for the most important examinations of their lives,” spokesperson for the co-operative governance ministry Legadima Leso said in a statement.

Vuwani residents burnt down and vandalised at least 50 schools in protests against a Municipal Demarcation Board decision.

The destruction started on April 29, when the Masia Traditional Council lost a court application to set aside the Municipal Demarcation Board's decision to merge the underperforming Vuwani municipality with parts of the Malamulele municipality in the Vhembe district.

Nearly 53 000 pupils were affected by the protests and wider shutdowns.

However the ministry applauded the Vhembe district for its efforts in ending the violence, and added that they were satisfied with the latest progress.

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Des van Rooyen said: “As the IMC, we still stand ready and willing to continue working tirelessly with all willing partners in an effort to ensure that we bring the situation to normality in Vuwani and all the learners and educators are able to go back to class.”