Chaos erupts when Giyani traditional leaders shift focus during meeting with premier

More than half of the traditional leaders are directly affected by territorial disputes, with some claiming authority over others. The government has recognised only ten traditional leaders across more than 55 villages, while the rest are designated as headmen, working under so-called senior traditional leaders. Those who are not recognised as chiefs blame the government for not amending an old act known as the Black Authorities Act 68 which does not recognise them as traditional leaders.

They say the Act introduced in 1951 to support the government’s policy of separate development, made unfair provisions for the establishment of regional and territorial authorities. They said this resulted in some territories being taken and allocated to certain traditional leaders who had connections at the time.

“Because of this Act, which disadvantages some of us, we have traditional leaders who operate without the necessary tools of the trade and are banned from attending traditional leaders’ meetings because the government does not recognise them as legitimate chiefs,” said Hosi Maswanganyi, demanding fair treatment.

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Other traditional leaders demanded the establishment of a task team to address issues affecting them, emphasising that the premier should address their concerns as soon as possible to promote stability in their areas. Responding to this, Ramathuba acknowledged their concerns, saying she would establish a task team to look into the matter.

“While I understand that there were commissions before that investigated this matter and came up with results that did not satisfy you, I want to agree with your suggestions, particularly those from Kgoshi Sekororo that we need to establish a task team that will look into this matter again and come up with a better solution,” she said.

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The premier, however, added that the solution lies with traditional leaders, stating that the task teams that will be established will work with traditional leaders to find a better way to resolve their issues. The premier also mentioned that it was wrong to expect her to resolve issues affecting traditional leaders without their involvement, saying that no premier has the authority to do so alone without backup facts from traditional leaders.

“However, some of you are expecting a premier to remove one chief and replace them with another, which is impossible because that would be crossing the line,” she continued. “If you keep arguing, you will remain without proper roads or other development because the government or municipality will not know who to approach when bringing services to your areas,” she said.