Pretoria - Former foster parent to Balobedu nation Princess Masalanabo Modjadji, the ANC heavyweight Dr Mathole Motshekga, insists that she is now in charge of the Balobedu Queendom after she turned 18 in January.
Motshekga has had to cease being the Princess’s foster parent after she celebrated turning 18 at his home in Johannesburg earlier this year.
The politician is at the centre of a three-year dispute involving two siblings, Princess Masalanabo and her elder brother, Prince Lukukela Modjadji, who are pitted against each other in the battle to ascend to the Balobedu throne.
This comes after the death of their mother, Queen Makobo Modjadji, the “rain queen”, in 2005.
In October last year, the Modjadji Royal Council hosted a traditional ceremony inaugurating Prince Lekukela as the next king, which would end 200 years of rule by women in the Balobedu nation, situated at Khetlhakone Village outside Modjadjiskloof in Limpopo.
The factional Balobedu Royal Council consists of the late queen’s advisers and are backing Princess Masalanabo to be queen after she turned 18 in January, paving the way for her to ascend to the throne.
The Modjadji Royal Council believed Prince Lekukela to be the rightful heir.
She was set to be installed as Rain Queen earlier this year, but that did not happen pending the certificate of recognition from the government.
The battle has been in and out of court in recent years for the law to recognise the rightful heir.
However, Motshekga saw it as a waste of time and distanced himself from court proceedings.
“Going to court is a waste of time because former president Jacob Zuma correctly recognised Masalanabo as the sole and only queen of the Balobedu Royal nation, and President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that decision at a stadium, and said that when she turns 18, she will take over.
“So she turned 18 in January, and now she is in power. Now she is just waiting for a certificate of recognition, and there should be no other challenger. These other guys want a king, which is impossible,” he said.
He said he didn’t need anything from the courts because all they needed was to stop the absurdity of installing a king in a place where there is no kingdom.
“Princess Masanalabo is in charge now and has set up her royal council, and everything is running.
“The rebels are continuing and don’t know what to do for now. The queen is in place, and that cannot be challenged,” Motshekga said.
He said the challenge satiated when regent Prince Mphaphatla Modjadji was appointed.
“Mpampatla Modjadji was appointed a regent for Queen elect Masalanabo, the 7th, and along the way, he decided that he is regent for the Modjadji Royal Nation, and there is nothing like that on earth, so they created a structure that does not exist under SA laws and the Balobedu customs.
“We have achieved what we wanted, and that is to stop the coronation of a king because from the 1800s, there has been no king in Bolobedu but queens, so there is no court dispute,” he said.
Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs spokesperson Jacob Mashishi acknowledged questions from Pretoria News, but had not responded by the time of publication.
Spokesperson for the Balobedu Royal Council, Ronnie Maroantsheha, who is backing Prince Lekukela, accused Motshekga of imposing himself.
“Motshekga was a self-imposed guardian. We acknowledge that the child (Masalanabo) turned 18 in January, but that on itself nullifies him as a guardian. But if she wants to appoint him, so be it, but this looks like it’s the end of the road for him.
“This has been an unnecessary undertaking, especially from somebody who is from outside. It’s not only the two siblings affected by this debacle. The whole Balobedu nation is affected by this, and it’s very disruptive to the nation,” he said.
Pretoria News