Next round of the Venda king (queen)ship battle?

The battle to determine who will be the king or queen of the Vhavenda may still be determined in the country’s courts. This legal battle, which has been looming now for several years, seems to be heading for the High Court in Thohoyandou.

According to Mr Johann Hammann, attorney for the applicants, the advocates must file their Heads of Arguments and Practice Notes and then they can apply for a date on which the hearing can take place.

At the end of 2012, the then 21-year-old Masindi Clementine Mphephu filed papers in the Thohoyandou High Court, claiming that she should have been next in line for the throne but was overlooked because of gender discrimination. She is the only child of the late paramount chief of the Vhavenda, Tshimangadzo Mphephu (who ruled under the name Dimbanyika)

The second applicant in the case is Mbulaheni Charles Mphephu, eldest son of the late Patrick Mphephu. He argues that, should Masindi not be considered for the kingship position, he would be next in line. They dispute the recommendation made by selected members of the royal family in August 2010 that the rightful incumbent is Toni Mphephu Ramabulana.

The respondents in the case include Toni Ramabulana, Pres Jacob Zuma (who had announced that Toni would be the new king), as well as the national and provincial houses of traditional leaders. The applicants ask the court to firstly set aside the decision to appoint Toni Ramabulana as king and then to declare that the practice of only installing males as traditional leaders be declared unconstitutional.

In the affidavits and replying affidavits filed, the parties disagree on the procedures to appoint a new heir. Mbulaheni and Masindi believe that, because Toni Ramabulana was appointed as ndumi to his half-brother Dimbanyika, he should not have been considered for the kingship position. In Mbulaheni’s affidavit, he explains that “In terms of a strict requirement of Vhavenda customary law, the ndumi to a king or queen can never be the next king. This is because the ndumi is one of the closest advisors to the king or queen. It is thus believed that a person in that position would be tempted to kill or displace the king or queen if there was any incentive of succession involved.”

The two applicants also argue that Toni Ramabulana does not come from the rightdzekiso house. The dzekiso wife (or candle wife) is appointed according to certain customs and there may be more than one candle wife to make provision for cases where the first candle wife does not bear children. (This is, however, disputed by some of the respondents).

The legal arguments will, however, firstly focus on the constitutional issue of whether a woman may be ignored when deciding on an heir. Masindi and Mbulaheni’s legal team reckons there are plenty of examples in African history to make out a case for the inclusion of women.

Date:19 September 2014

By: Anton van Zyl

Anton van Zyl has been with the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror since 1990. He graduated from the Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) and obtained a BA Communications degree. He is a founder member of the Association of Independent Publishers.

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