Court dismisses Balobedu family’s bid to halt ‘Queen Modjadji’ series

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The Pretoria High Court has dismissed the Balobedu family’s court application to interdict the Multichoice’s drama series ‘Queen Modjadji’ that’s supposed to be aired this coming Sunday.

The Balobedu Royal Council took producer Duma Ka Ndlovu to court for reasons that the Balobedu Royal Council was never consulted on this series and Queen Modjadji will be represented negatively.

Representing the Balobedu Royal Family and the Royal Council, Advocate Louis Kok told the court that MultiChoice and the producer of the series consulted with the regent Prince Mpapatla, who was temporarily managing the affairs of Masalanabo while she was still a minor.

Kok told the court that any damage that Multichoice would suffer if the interdict is granted would be of their own doing as they ignored all engagements by the Royal Balobedu Family and Council.

“I wish to stress that it is very difficult to understand why the respondents have gone the route of a person of a name of Mpapatla who purports to be regent. There could never have been any doubt that the first applicant is the hereditary queen and that any structures presented as structures of then-Modjadji queenship were bogus. Respondents knew exactly how sensitive this matter is. It’s way beyond any financial issue.”

 Video: Interdict against Modjadji Rain Queen series not urgent

While the applicant’s representative explained why the drama series cannot go on air, the defense lawyer, Advocate Terry Motau argued that the applicant had enough time to lay down their complaints.

He asked the court to strike the urgent application off the roll. He said the applicants deem the production as a documentary, while it is a fictional series based on the first Rain Queen that does not require any permission to film.

“There is a profound misconception on the part of the applicant because they assume this is a documentary my lord and not of course dealing with the fact that it is a series based on events that occurred more than 200 years ago and it is not intended to depict any of the present scenarios,” Motau explained.

The family reacted to the court’s judgment.

“The court says why didn’t we come earlier? This is wrong, in my view. We couldn’t earlier because we were still in negotiations. That’s why even our court papers were saying give this matter a chance for consultation and also for negotiations because the truth of the matter is that Duma Ndlovu consulted with a man who has no authority on the issues of Balobedu queenship,” said Balobedu Royal Council spokesperson Dr Mathole Motshekga.

The family has emphasised the importance and respect of their cultural practices.

Video: Queen Modjadji Series – Urgent court application struck off the roll