By Elmon Tshikhudo and Anton van Zyl
The staff members working at the Dzanani Royal Palace have become the latest collateral damage in the Vhavenda leadership struggle. The 16 staff members have not been paid since April this year, seemingly in an effort to force the Mphephu royal family to choose a successor.
The decision of the Limpopo Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta) to stop paying salaries only came to the fore two weeks ago. A meeting was scheduled for 16 August at the palace to discuss the issue but was cancelled after Coghsta was told doing so would undermine the court processes underway.
The spokesperson for Coghsta in Limpopo, Hitekani Magwedze, confirmed that payments to the workers had stopped. He said that the contracts of the staff members had lapsed and had not been renewed this financial year. "The department is not legally obliged to pay salaries until a recognised king or queen has been appointed. The new incumbent would then have to appoint staff and submit their contracts to the department, so that salaries could be paid," he said.
Coghsta has, however, been criticised for not being consistent in its actions since Toni Mphephu Ramabulana was stripped of his title in the Constitutional Court in November last year. Initially, the department continued paying Toni's salary of roughly R1,2 million per year. In December last year, the Limpopo Mirror reported on a R5,7 million security contract awarded by Coghsta for Toni's protection, which not only included the royal palace, but also his house in Louis Trichardt.
In February this year, rumours started surfacing that Toni's salary payments had stopped. At the time, a spokesperson for Coghsta, Ms Tsakani Baloyi, confirmed that the department had stopped all the benefits, but she was very evasive when asked about whether benefits would be paid to a person appointed in a temporary capacity. "The support provided by government to traditional leaders is regulated by the Framework on Tools of Trade for Qualifying Traditional Leaders," she said, without providing clarity.
In a letter written to Coghsta in July, the spokesperson for the royal family, Mr Ntsieni Ramabulana, complained that the relevant MEC, Basikopo Makamu, was not honouring his promises. He referred to a meeting held on 11 February this year during which Makamu had assured them that the office in the royal house would not close down because of the ruling in the Constitutional Court. "He indicated that the court matter involved only one individual and the staff would not be affected and thus should work as usual," Ramabulana said.
In a letter written on behalf of all the staff members, this sentiment was echoed. "(W)e strongly feel that the statement of the MEC was correct when he stated that the court matter does not affect the staff and therefore we should not be disadvantaged by the recognition process as we are not part of the process but merely workers in the Kingship office," they wrote.
The optimism among staff members that the situation could be resolved, was clearly misplaced. At the end of March this year, the staff members were notified that: "Payments on contracts cannot be implemented until we receive a confirmation of recognition of the heir apparent. You will be receiving a formal letter once (it) is signed by the HOD."
This adversely affected the staff and their families as they could not fulfil their financial obligations. One of the affected staff members is 54-year-old Mr William Mukwevho, who works in the protocol division. "We have faithfully served this institution for years, for the benefit of the Vhavenda people, and all of a sudden our salaries are stopped. We have families and ourselves to take care of, and how are we to continue with our lives without salaries?" he said.
Ramabulana said that the staff members were very unfortunate to be caught up in the crossfire. "We have deliberated on this issue with government, but this has borne no fruits so far. The staff members have faithfully kept the office running as there are important services to be rendered for the Vhavenda people. Moreover, these people have families to look after and need transport to and from work. We hope government will resolve the issue and the staff get their salaries soon, and if not, we will be forced to seek guidance from our lawyers to force government to pay," he said.
Ramabulana added that the office still provided important services, such as dispute resolutions and important meetings for other senior traditional leaders that are held at the royal offices
Last week's meeting at the royal palace was cancelled after Princess Masindi Mphephu Ramabulana's legal team threatened Coghsta with court action, should the meeting continue. In a letter sent to Coghsta, Masindi's lawyers state that they were initially told that the meeting was arranged to finalise the appointment of an acting king or queen. It then turned out that matters such as genealogy and customary law of succession were also placed on the agenda. These issues, Masindi's legal team felt, are pending before court and cannot be debated in such a meeting.
"At this stage, we are busy finalising the expert witness evidence and will shortly send our application for a preferential trial date to the offices of the Judge President of the Limpopo High Court," reads the letter.
"We also wish to place it on record that we are prepared to engage the Royal Family as well as you in matters related to the appointment of an Acting King / Queen, as we are aware of the hardship caused to the personnel employed by the Royal Family, and who take care of the Royal Palace, and who are compensated by you and or the Department of COGHSTA," Masindi's lawyers state.