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Some of the senior traditional leaders who attended the hearing.

Coronation ceremony halted by court

 

The coronation ceremony of Vhavenda King Toni Mphephu Ramabulana, scheduled for Friday, 9 September, was dealt a crucial blow last Friday when the Thohoyandou High Court granted an interdict to stop the function from going ahead.

The applicants in the case were Masindi Clementine Mphephu and her uncle, Charles Mubulaheni Mphehphu. They lodged an urgent application in the High Court, arguing among other things that the ceremony pre-empted a case currently before the court. In this case Masindi argues that she is the rightful heir to the throne but was overlooked because of, among other things, gender discrimination.

Friday’s hearing lasted for almost the whole day, with the legal teams trying to convince Judge Khami Makafhola that their cases were solid. One of the issues that was raised was the urgency of the application. The defendants were represented by the well-known advocate Ishmael Semenya, while the applicants boasted the skills of advocate Dali Mpofu. It was argued that the applicants had known about the coronation for quite some time but only reacted at the last minute. Mpofu argued that the applicants could only respond once the ceremony was officially announced, which happened some three weeks ago. Prior to that it was only a rumour as far as they were concerned.

Judge Makafhola granted the application, which means that any coronation ceremony will have to wait until such time as the case contesting the kingship had been heard. The judge also awarded a cost order to the applicants on a party-to-party scale.

The spokesperson for Toni Mphephu Ramabulana, Mr Jackson Mufanzwaini, commented on Monday morning, saying that they were very disappointed with the outcome. He said that they would now focus on preparing for the review application in the High Court. This case, where Masindi Mphephu and her uncle are trying to set the decision aside to recognise Toni Mphephu as king of the Vhavenda, may be heard before the end of the year.

The Ministry for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs reacted on the developments in a short statement on Friday. “We respect the decision of the court as an arbiter on all the legal questions in our country. We will study the decision of the court on this matter and will comment in due course,” Minister David van Rooyen said.

 

Date:05 September 2016

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.

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