Government will abide by court judgement
The Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Zweli Mkhize has noted the judgment of the Constitutional Court with regard to the issue of disputed traditional authority of amaMpondo aseQaukeni and government will abide by the judgement.
The Constitutional Court judgment, stated as follows;
[4] …In January 2010 the Commission made a decision to the effect that Zanozuko was the one entitled to be the kind of amaMpondo aseQaukeni. That decision was conveyed to the President in terms of section 26(2)(a) of the unamended Act.
[5] The President sought to implement the decision of the Commission by issuing a notice and a certificate under the amended Act. The notice was a notice of recognition published in the Government Gazette. It recognised Zanozuko as the king of amaMpondo aseQaukeni. The certificate was a certificate of recognition in terms of section 9(2)(b). This led to a legal challenge in Sigcau 1 that reached this Court in 2013. That challenge related to, among others, the questions of whether the notice and the certificate that had been issued and published by the President to implement the decision of the Commission were valid and whether the decision of the Commission fell to be reviewed and set aside. The legal challenge took the form of a review application that was brought by Mpondombini in the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria to have the notice, the certificate and the Commission’s decision reviewed and set aside.
[6] The High Court dismissed that review application. On appeal before this Court, this Court limited its decision to the notice and certificate that had been issued to the President. This Court held that the notice and certificate were invalid, upheld Mpondombini’s appeal, set aside the decision of the High Court and set aside the notice and the decision. The basis for that outcome was that the President had acted under the amended Act when he should have acted under the unamended Act.
[7] A month or so before this Court handed down its judgment, Mpondombini passed away. We were later to explain in Nxumalo that the effect of this Court’s decision in Sigcau 1 was in part that the Commission’s decision stood as it had not been set aside and that it was, therefore, still pending in the High Court. It would seem that, since the handing down of this Court’s judgment in Sigcau 1, nothing has been done by anybody to pursue the application to review and set aside the Commission’s decision. That is assuming that, despite Mpondombini’s passing on, somebody would have locus standi (standing) to pursue the application to have the Commission’s decision reviewed and set aside. A period of 5 years has lapsed since this Court’s decision in Sigcau 1. This case must be decided on the basis that the decision of the Commission that Zanozuko is entitled to be the king stands”.
In its concluding remarks, the Constitutional Court made the following points:
“[64] In conclusion I want to make this point. Sometime after the Commission had announced its decision that amaMpondo aseQaukeni met the requirements to be a kingship or queenship, Zanozuko lodged with the Commission a claim that he was entitled to be the king of amaMpondo aseQaukeni. The whole royal family got to know about the claim. Mpondombini certainly got to know about it because he subsequently contested Zanozuko’s claim and maintained that he was the one entitled to be the king. This dispute about who was entitled to be the king of amaMpondo aseQaukeni was then resolved by the Commission after it had heard evidence adduced by both sides.
[65] The decision of the Commission, after it had considered customary law and customs, was that Zanozuko was the one entitled to be the king and in effect that Mpondombini was not entitled to be the king. That decision of the Commission has not been set aside. That being the case, as long as the decision of the Commission stands, the first applicant [Wezizwe Feziwe Sigcau] cannot be entitled to be king or queen either. In the circumstances the appeal must fail …”.
In terms of the Constitutional Court judgment, handed down on the 11th of September 2018, the President of the Republic is now required to implement the Commission’s decision by publishing the section 9(2)(a) notice in the Government Gazette and to issue the certificate of recognition in terms of section 9(2)(b) in favour of Zanozuko Sigcau as king of amaMpondo aseQaukeni.
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