Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, Mmusi Maimane says his party is planning to assist more than 30 traditional leaders to get government recognition. This after he met with members of the Live-lemaswati Royal Trust in Amsterdam near Piet Retief.
The Royal Trust consists of local chiefs who are not recognised by the government.
Live-lemaswati Royal Trust was established by the traditional leaders who are not recognised by the government.
The disgruntled traditional leaders say they have decided to approach the Democratic Alliance to assist them after they approached different political parties and organisations without any success.
Live-lemaswati Royal Trust Spokesperson Bongani Dlamini says some of the traditional leaders are originally from the Kingdom eSwatini and they became South Africans after the border lines were drawn.
“It is clear the Chiefs say the land should go back to the original owners. It should not go to the data of government and be owned by government. The Chiefs are saying let the land be brought back to them as the custodian of the land.”
Maimane says there should be transparency when it comes to the issue of recognising the traditional leaders. He says his political party will also assist some of the traditional leaders to get their land back.
“Traditional leaders also want land restitution, they want rights so that they can be owners of the land and bring development. It was a positive meeting because the issue of recognition in some parts by ANC, some people are recognised and others not. We want the recognition of the tradition leaders to be transparent and to be constitutional so that people can also own the land.”
Later while addressing the residents at a local stadium, Maimane raised concerns about the lack of development in the area.
