Glimmer of hope for Kgafela in SA

Lerato Maleke | Friday July 4, 2014 06:59

Leuw reserved judgement in the matter on Wednesday, with about 2,000 Bakgatla having travelled from Mochudi hoping to see Kgafela pronounced the leader in both Botswana and South Africa.

The Judge President said the two countries were different jurisdictions and had independent statutes governing bogosi.

 “Whether Kgafela has a case to answer here in South Africa will be determined by me and I am not going to consider his derecognition back in Botswana or his pending cases when I deliver judgement,” Leeuw said.

“Whatever happened to Kgafela in Botswana doesn’t concern me or the South African government and it ends there,” stated Leeuw, to cheers from Kgafela’s supporters in the courtroom.

Judge Leeuw’s remarks came after a court interdict filed on Wednesday by Kagiso Pilane, who stated that he is a member of the royal house in Moruleng. Among his arguments, Pilane said Kgafela was the subject of pending charges in Botswana, had been derecognised by the Botswana government and was a fugitive from justice.

Nyalala and Kagiso’s lawyers argued that Kgafela could not be the paramount chief in both Mochudi and Moruleng as in the latter, the Kgosikgolo had to be elected by the royal traditional house which runs Bakgatla Ba Kgafela affairs in Moruleng. 

Kgafela contends, however, that the royal traditional house in Moruleng does not have the powers to elect a paramount chief and that by Bakgatla custom, paramount chiefs are born not elected.

On Wednesday afternoon, arguments between the two sides focused on South African legal provisions and statutes around chieftaincy, with Leeuw saying she needed time to study bogosi both in Moruleng and Mochudi.

The case is one of several Kgafela has filed against Nyalala, although he has since dropped some and merged them into the matter before Leeuw.

Commentators in South Africa have pointed out that Bakgatla ba Kgafela in Moruleng are among the richest tribes in that country, with holdings in the platinum reserves in the North West province.