AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo is adamant that he will not go to jail despite his petition to Justice Minister Michael Masutha being dismissed yesterday.
Dalindyebo has until midnight to hand himself over to prison officials.
He was sentenced to a 15-year term by the Mthatha High Court in 2009, but the Supreme Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to 12 years this year and acquitted him of culpable homicide.
He would be the first king to go to prison in democratic South Africa.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday at the Mthatha High Court, the king said there was no chance that he would ever go to jail.
He based his views on a mysterious “court order” which he claimed was granted by the “Supreme Court of South Africa” on Monday.
However, his attorney, Yasmin Omar, said the minister found that some issues in the petition could only be decided on by the courts, and that these would be heard in the Mthatha High Court today.
Yesterday, the king personally submitted a bizarre document signed by “his excellency, majesty king Stephen Khoza, of the Nguni Royal Family of the United Kingdom of the Union of South Africa the commonwealth realms Republic of South Africa” to the Mthatha High Court hours before Masutha made his finding public.
Dalindyebo said the “court order” which was “granted” nullified all convictions and sentences imposed on him by the Mthatha High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court.
“This means that I will be a free man; this court order is setting me free,” said the king yesterday.
Justice ministry spokesman Nathi Mncube said that there was no such court in South Africa. Nor was there any such court order referred to by the king. “We only have the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the high court,” he said.
“We do not know anything about this court. There is no such court in South Africa.”
Speaking to the Dispatch, the king lambasted the judiciary, saying the judicial system had a “tendency of being manipulated by the media or politicians”.
“What is glaring in the whole application is that in both the high court and the judgment of the SCA they tend to run away from evidence before them,” he said.
“They tend to select evidence suitable for their ulterior motives and leave out the evidence that can substantiate the merits of the case.
“I don’t think they are honest in their adjudication.
“They sometimes, to me, appear to have their own political agenda either to undermine the state or to undermine the judicial process itself. I think they will make the judicial system untrustworthy.”
Dalindyebo’s lawyers had yesterday filed an urgent application with the Mthatha High Court, seeking:
lA bail extension pending Masutha’s decision on the petition;
lThe king’s convictions and sentences be declared unlawful and unconstitutional; and
lThe Transkei Authorities Act and Transkei Penal Code be declared unconstitutional.
The application, which was set to be heard by the Mthatha High Court today, was submitted by instructing attorney Sandile Toni and advocate Lusindiso Matotie.
Toni said they had to work against time and were awaiting instructions from Dalindyebo for a way forward.
Toni said logically there was no other way to have the application heard as the minister had already made his determination.
“But our application was not based on the outcome of the petition only,” Toni said.
“We feel that the king was convicted on the wrong code, the old Transkei penal code, and the court still has to make determination on that.”
Toni said although they still had to consult with the king for new instructions, the legal team hoped that the matter would still be heard in court today.
Dalindyebo’s spokesman Chief Mfundo Mtirara, speaking after the minister turned down the king’s petition, said “this is a legal battle”, and that the family would only comment through the king’s lawyer, Omar. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za/ abongilem@dispatch.co.za
Dalindyebo adamant he won’t go to jail
Dalindyebo has until midnight to hand himself over to prison officials.
He was sentenced to a 15-year term by the Mthatha High Court in 2009, but the Supreme Court of Appeal reduced the sentence to 12 years this year and acquitted him of culpable homicide.
He would be the first king to go to prison in democratic South Africa.
Speaking to the Daily Dispatch yesterday at the Mthatha High Court, the king said there was no chance that he would ever go to jail.
He based his views on a mysterious “court order” which he claimed was granted by the “Supreme Court of South Africa” on Monday.
However, his attorney, Yasmin Omar, said the minister found that some issues in the petition could only be decided on by the courts, and that these would be heard in the Mthatha High Court today.
Yesterday, the king personally submitted a bizarre document signed by “his excellency, majesty king Stephen Khoza, of the Nguni Royal Family of the United Kingdom of the Union of South Africa the commonwealth realms Republic of South Africa” to the Mthatha High Court hours before Masutha made his finding public.
Dalindyebo said the “court order” which was “granted” nullified all convictions and sentences imposed on him by the Mthatha High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court.
“This means that I will be a free man; this court order is setting me free,” said the king yesterday.
Justice ministry spokesman Nathi Mncube said that there was no such court in South Africa. Nor was there any such court order referred to by the king. “We only have the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the high court,” he said.
“We do not know anything about this court. There is no such court in South Africa.”
Speaking to the Dispatch, the king lambasted the judiciary, saying the judicial system had a “tendency of being manipulated by the media or politicians”.
“What is glaring in the whole application is that in both the high court and the judgment of the SCA they tend to run away from evidence before them,” he said.
“They tend to select evidence suitable for their ulterior motives and leave out the evidence that can substantiate the merits of the case.
“I don’t think they are honest in their adjudication.
“They sometimes, to me, appear to have their own political agenda either to undermine the state or to undermine the judicial process itself. I think they will make the judicial system untrustworthy.”
Dalindyebo’s lawyers had yesterday filed an urgent application with the Mthatha High Court, seeking:
lA bail extension pending Masutha’s decision on the petition;
lThe king’s convictions and sentences be declared unlawful and unconstitutional; and
lThe Transkei Authorities Act and Transkei Penal Code be declared unconstitutional.
The application, which was set to be heard by the Mthatha High Court today, was submitted by instructing attorney Sandile Toni and advocate Lusindiso Matotie.
Toni said they had to work against time and were awaiting instructions from Dalindyebo for a way forward.
Toni said logically there was no other way to have the application heard as the minister had already made his determination.
“But our application was not based on the outcome of the petition only,” Toni said.
“We feel that the king was convicted on the wrong code, the old Transkei penal code, and the court still has to make determination on that.”
Toni said although they still had to consult with the king for new instructions, the legal team hoped that the matter would still be heard in court today.
Dalindyebo’s spokesman Chief Mfundo Mtirara, speaking after the minister turned down the king’s petition, said “this is a legal battle”, and that the family would only comment through the king’s lawyer, Omar. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za/ abongilem@dispatch.co.za
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