ConCourt rules Mathabatha failed in royal family dispute

A years’ long battle concerning the traditional leadership of the Tshibvumo Village in Limpopo, between the Rambuda and Tshibvumo royal families, ended after the Constitutional Court ruled the authority to choose the head rests with the Rambuda family.

The apex court also criticised Stan Mathabatha, who was premier of Limpopo at the time, for not exercising his discretion, when he recognised Donald Rambuda as the head, outlining the steps expected from premiers when dealing with traditional appointments.

The judgment will become a central part of SA court’s growing jurisprudence on customary law, which SA’s constitution recognises but which must be aligned to the Bill of Rights.

The previous head of Tshibvumo Village, Nthambeleni Tshibvumo Singo, passed away in 2014. Two successors were identified: Singo’s son, Lucas Mavhungu, of the Tshibvumo royal family and Donald Rambuda of the Rambuda royal family.

The senior traditional leader of the community, Chief Avhatendi Rambuda, rejected Mavhungu. Instead, he applied to Mathabatha for the recognition of Donald.  

From 2016, to prevent this from proceeding, the Tshibvumo family instituted an urgent high court application to be legally recognised as the authority to identify Singo’s successor.

In 2018, the premier nevertheless picked Rambuda, kick-starting a new wave of litigation. The Tshibvumo family then returned to court to review the premier’s decision.

The high court made adverse findings against the premier for not helping to resolve the dispute before making a decision. Despite this, the high court ordered that the matter return to the premier.

The Tshibvumo family appealed to the Constitutional Court.

The apex court finally ruled on Wednesday that the authority “rests exclusively with the Rambuda royal family”, as they had long ruled the Tshibvumo Village and met the legal requirements.  

Writing for a unanimous court, Constitutional Court judge Rammaka Mathopo said “there can only be one royal family per traditional community”.

Pointing to the history of Rambudas, Mathopo wrote: “They have ruled over the Tshibvumo Village for many generations and meet the statutory definition of a royal family as set out in section 1 of the Limpopo Traditional Leadership Act.”

The Tshibvumo family, on the other hand, did not.

Mathopo, however, also criticised the premier for his conduct at the time.

“[The premier] must satisfy himself that there is evidence or an allegation … of noncompliance with customary law in the identification of a person before referring the dispute to the relevant bodies,” Mathopo said.

“It is clear that the premier did not.”

The premier merely rubber-stamped Rambuda’s nomination and did not take note of the dispute, nor refer it to the relevant traditional houses to resolve.

The court noted that in future no premier could do this and should apply his or her mind to the issues appropriately. This would avoid lengthy disputes like the current one.

Mathopo also noted that there were concerns of enforcing gender discrimination, via enforcing male progeniture (where only the eldest male heir may rule), that needed to be resolved by traditional houses, as this was against the Bill of Rights.

The matter returns to new premier, Phophi Ramathuba, to take it further. – BusinessLIVE