High Court calls petty headman Mamburu to order

A petty headman, Mr Titus Mbulaheni Mamburu, who has been selling land to people without consultation with his subordinates was solemnly ordered to stop acting as a petty headman and was excused from all activities of the Matsa Royal Council.

The matter was finalised on 14 November in the Thohoyandou High Court.

This comes after the applicants, Headman Vho-Musandiwa Phillemon Matsa (80) and the Matsa Royal Council, filed for an interdict to seek the High Court's intervention and decision in the events where Mamburu was allocating residential and business sites to people. The court ordered Mamburu to stop allocating residential and business sites at Ha-Mamburu village in Nzhelele, or any other area falling under the jurisdiction of the Matsa Royal Council.

“The respondent is ordered and interdicted to stop misleading people by informing them that he is a headman of Mamburu village,” reads the court interdict. “He should stop acting as if he is a headman of Mamburu village with immediate effect.” Mamburu was further ordered to vacate the premises of Matsa Royal Council at Ha-Mamburu village with immediate effect as he no longer has a position in the council. He was also ordered to pay the cost of the application.

“The council tried to call Mamburu to order immediately when we got the news that he was collecting money from people in exchange for business and residentail stands,” said Vho-Matsa. "The council welcomes the High Court's decision and Vho-Mamburu should also accept the ruling as such."

However, Vho-Mamburu said that he knew nothing about the court interdict. “That's something new to my ears; I was never served with a court interdict,” Mamburu said on Monday. “Whoever brought the story to you is the one who's trying to mislead the public.”

However, Limpopo Mirror has seen the copy of the interdict granted by the acting judge MJ Mpshe on 14 November.

Date:06 December 2013

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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