ADVERTISEMENT:

 
 

Chief David Davhana, whom community members object to. They accuse him of not respecting his subjects.
 

Davhana community “fed up” with Chief

 

The community of Davhana in the Vuwani area say they have had enough of their chief, who they say does not listen to them. They now want the royal family to choose a new leader to lead the community.

The standoff between the community and Thovhele David Davhana has been going on for some time, but the latest clashes apparently stem from an incident last Thursday when the chief allegedly fired shots during a feedback meeting at the village.

Davhana Development Task Team secretary George Ramashia said the meeting was called to give feedback on the concerns of the community.

“We have many challenges here in this community, like the issue of money that was collected for the installation of the chief, which did not take place. We want a refund as the money has not been used,” he said.

According to Ramashia, they also question the manner in which the tribal council is composed as it is not representative of all the villages and stakeholders in the community.

“The secretary of the tribal council was also irregularly appointed and we want this appointment to be nullified. Stipends of the chief have doubled from R1500 to R3000, which the community is against, and the worst part of it is that the chief divided the village unnecessarily in order to install headmen whom we suspect paid money in return,” he said.

Ramashia said that they were concerned when, just as Thursday’s meeting was about to end, the chief fired shots in the air. “We do not want a cowboy leader in our community and the community has resolved that the (royal) family forward us a new leader who will be ready to listen to the community. This man is dividing us as a community. We have also resolved that the tribal offices will be closed until all problems have been resolved,” added Ramashia.

Thovhele David Davhana disputed all the accusations levelled against him. “I am a straightforward person who follows the rules. I also care for my people; I put them first, before me,” he said.

Concerning the installation of headmen, he said it was done for good governance and it was done only at villages where there were no headmen. He further pointed out that his allowance was not determined by him, but by the executive council.

“I am not even getting anything close to others. Some are getting up to R5 000, but our executive decided on R3000,” he said.

He also denied that the tribal council was representative of the community. “When we have meetings, the first thing I request is a roll call to ensure that there is a quorum and it is representative of the community,” he said.

He said he could not comment on the issue of firing guns as it was in the hands of the courts.

 

Date:22 May 2015

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

Read: 3488

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

ADVERTISEMENT:

ADVERTISEMENT:

 

Recent Articles

ADVERTISEMENT

 

Popular Articles