The dispute over the heir to the throne of the Balobedu nation in Limpopo is heading to court.
The foster parents of Princess Masalanabo Modjadji will go to court to challenge the Modjadji Royal Council’s decision to appoint her brother, Prince Lekukela as the next monarch.
The Royal Council says they have had no access to Princess Masalanabo – who lives with her foster parents, ANC MP Dr Mathole Motshekga and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga in Gauteng – and thus were not able to train her on her duties as monarch.
Advocate Ngoako Moropene on Prince Lekukela being appointed leader for the Balobedu nation:
Lawyer representing Dr Motshekga, Mathews Phosa says they are busy drafting court papers.
“The second action is to challenge their null and void attempt to mount a coup against the queen-elect. The Tolo Commission identified Masalanabo as the queen-elect, now these people who appeared and tried to nullify this should have gone at least to challenge the review of the commission.”
“They instead try to take the law into their own hands which is very unacceptable in a constitutional state. From our point of view, we are bringing an application, we are busy writing out the court papers to set aside the attempt to disinherit the queen-elect Masalanabo of her rightful throne.”
Video: The Modjadji royal family refute claims of deviating from their tradition of Balobedu queenship
Petitions opposing the Prince
Meanwhile, several petitions have been started on social media to oppose Prince Lekukela’s installation.
The originator of one of the petitions, Samuel Manyama, says they will take the petition to Traditional Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, once it gets 2 000 signatures.
“This petition caught fire. To date, we have had over 5 million views on the petition and 1 200 signatures and comments, which we are planning to table to Minister Nkosazana Dlamini- Zuma.”
