Court reserves judgment in Vatsonga king case

The High Court in Polokwane has reserved judgment in the case regarding an application for the restoration of Wilson Mkhari of the Mkhari clan, as a junior traditional leader. Mkhari wants the court to remove Hosi Chavani and Hosi Njhakanjhaka as the traditional leaders in Elim and Njhakanjhaka villages.

He says that the throne was wrongfully moved from his bloodline. A separate court ruling earlier gave President Cyril Ramaphosa until the second of September to rule on Mkhari’s illegibility to be king of the Vatsonga.

The presiding judge Mariana Bresler has questioned whether a recently verified family tree would have any bearing on the application.

“If I look at the decision that was made by the committee, they essentially rejected the information regarding the lineage. They said it can’t be relied upon in their report. They say we went to the national directory and they had no record of this. Now in the review we now have that lineage confirmed by the national archive, does that not change the picture.”

One of the lawyers representing the two chiefs, Mokgerwa Makoti, says there are no grounds for restoration, arguing there has never been a chief in Mkhari’s bloodline.

“We know from those historical records that they were never chiefs, Njhakanjhaka was king, so was Chavani. I keep silent on Mboxeni but the minutes refer to him as chief. If things change such as to have a kingdom of Vatsonga with chieftaincies and herdsman below the position of king, so be it, it doesn’t mean that the applicant can come to court and say remove these two because they come from the smaller family, it doesn’t work that way.”