The levies raised by traditional leaders for various services remain a red herring, with few willing to speak out on what should or should not be done. Most parties have seemingly adopted a wait-and-see approach, hoping that the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta) will soon provide guidance.
The proverbial cat was set among the pigeons at the end of last year when the Constitutional Court confirmed an earlier ruling by the Limpopo High Court that traditional leaders are not allowed to "tax" people. Traditional leaders, including junior leaders, were charging levies for anything from a permission-to-occupy (PTO) letter to stamping an affidavit. Some senior traditional leaders also started charging excessive amounts for making stands available for business purposes. In many cases, there is an overlap in jurisdiction, with traditional leaders granting permission to traders, such as hawkers, despite this being a municipal function.
There is also very little standardisation in the levies being charged. In the Sinthumule Territorial Council, residents are charged R20 for a letter of residency, which is needed to open a bank account, for example. A stand for building a small house costs around R2,500, while a business stand, depending on its size, costs about R3,000.
In the Tshivhase area, opening a business is significantly more expensive. Those wanting to open a crèche must pay R10,000 to the musanda and another R25,000 to the khoro. A PTO costs R600 (R100 to the musanda and R500 to the khoro), while a stamp costs R50.
Those who fail to pay their levies are punished by being denied confirmation letters required for tasks such as opening a bank account or applying for a grant. They also risk being labelled as outcasts or denied access to common resources.
However, one of the local traditional leaders, Vhamusanda Vho Ntsundeni Sinthumule, strongly denied that a compulsory tax system was in place. He said they did not charge a cent for services rendered to the community. "What happens is that residents contribute whatever they can afford on a voluntary basis to the traditional leader. This is an age-old tradition practised by our forefathers and passed down through generations. Stopping this would render traditional councils ineffective," he said.
Ms Tsakani Baloyi, the director of communications at Coghsta, said the Limpopo provincial government had always demonstrated respect for the rule of law. She said Coghsta remained committed to implementing the various court rulings.
"In this regard, a draft plan is being consulted with key stakeholders, such as the Provincial and Local Houses of Traditional Leaders, on the implementation of the ConCourt judgment, and part of the plan will include its publication, once finalised," she said.
She added that consultations would continue beyond the implementation of the judgment to determine how traditional councils would be funded to carry out their legislative and customary roles. This, she said, would ultimately address the functionality of traditional councils from a financial resource perspective.