Newsletter| Ultimately, the campaign to release AbaThembu King Dalindyebo is not just about him. Rather, it is a reflection of a broader tension over what should become of traditional institutions in a modernising state, writes Mcebisi Ndletyana
AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo. Picture: Gallo Images/Daily Dispatch/Lulamile Feni/File
The Constitution allows for the practice of customary law, but its precise status in relation to received law is still undefined legally. The beating was so severe in one case that one of them died. Thus Dalindyebo was convicted of arson and culpable murder. Whilst the Constitution stipulates that villages be placed under municipalities, led by elected councillors, it also allows for the retention of chiefs and traditional authorities.
Victims of miscarriage of justice, for instance, do not sue judicial officers who are directly responsible for misdeeds, but direct their legal actions to the state. The arguments for his release are not without merit, especially because traditional institutions and practices enjoy constitutional recognition.It also doesn’t help that the Customary Court Bill has not been passed into law. This uncertainty is partly why President Ramaphosa is considering pardoning Dalindyebo.
His salary, for instance, was not stopped immediately after he was imprisoned, and officials continued to refer to him as king of AbaThembu. It doesn’t seem to have mattered to them that the law actually inhibited him from resuming the title.
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