Department condemns acts of illegally appointing traditional leaders
28 August 2012
The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs would like to condemn acts of people parading or passing themselves off as Traditional Leaders and yet they are not. The Department has received numerous complaints from Traditional Leaders, of people falsely claiming to be “Traditional Leaders” and misleading the public. It has also been brought to the attention of the department that there are imminent or proceeding “inaugurations” organised by these bogus traditional leaders in some parts of the province and we would like to warn the public that such actions are illegal and not recognised by government.
Traditional Leaders are appointed in terms of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2003 read with the Mpumalanga Traditional Leadership and Governance Act, 2005 which provide a comprehensive process which must be followed when indentifying and recognizing traditional leaders. Traditional Leaders refer to King, Queen, Principal Traditional Leader, Senior Traditional Leader and Headmen or Headwomen.
The provisions of the above-mentioned legislation provides that whenever the position of any of the above-mentioned traditional leaders must be filled, the royal family in line with its customary law of succession must identify a person who qualifies to fill the position. It should be noted that the first requirement is that the position must be vacant (due to death or removal) and secondly the royal family must indentify a person who qualifies to assume the position of the traditional leader concerned.
The law further provides that after the royal family concerned has identified the person who qualifies, the royal family must inform the Premier of the Province, the Premier must then recognize the person identified by the Royal Family, through a notice in the Provincial Gazette, and issue a certificate of recognition, and the Premier must inform the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders about the particulars of the identified person. It should be noted that the Premier may refuse to issue the certificate of recognition only if the identification was done contrary to customary law and the applicable legislation.
Wherever a dispute or claim concerning customary law or customs arises between or within traditional communities or other customary institution on a matter arising from the implementation of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2003, the disputes can be resolved by members of such a traditional community or customary institution seeking to resolve the dispute internally or claim in accordance with customs; if the traditional community or structure failed, the dispute must be referred to the Mpumalanga Provincial House of Traditional Leaders. If the dispute cannot be resolved by the provincial house, the dispute must be referred to Premier of the Province. The final stage if the matter is not resolved by the Premier is for the matter to be referred to the Commission of Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims.
It is important to note that while the dispute is being resolved by either of the mentioned structures, the mentioned Act forbids any person to act as if the dispute is resolved. For instance, if a person is disputing the identification and recognition of traditional leader, the disputing person must not act like a traditional leader, whilst the dispute is under investigation.
As the Department responsible for handling traditional affairs in the province we disassociate ourselves from any activity of individuals parading or passing themselves off as Traditional Leaders and yet they are not. The department would also like to state categorically clear that there can be no traditional leaders appointed without following the relevant processes and legislations and without being in possession of certificate of recognition signed by the Premier of Mpumalanga.
Contact person:
Simphiwe Kunene
Cell: 082 413 3931
Issued by Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
