The AmaMpondomise are heading back to court to in a bid to have their kingship, which they lost 115 years ago, restored.
Head of the AmaMpondomise Luzuko Matiwane has filed papers at the Mthatha high court to challenge former President Jacob Zuma's decision to not recognise their kingship.
He also wants the court to declare the processes of the Tolo Commission unfair, saying his attorney, Mvuzo Notyesi, had been prohibited from participating in the commission's proceedings and that Matiwane's rights had been “severely curtailed”.
The matter will be heard on Thursday.
AmaMpondomise claim they were stripped of their kingship by the British colonial government in 1904 after King Mhlontlo was accused of killing white Qumbu magistrate Hamilton Hope and two white police officers during the Mpondomise Revolt of 1880-81. Mhlontlo was acquitted, but they claim kingship was never restored.
Since 1912 they have appealed to successive governments for the restoration of the Mpondomise monarchical status. In 2010 the Tolo Commission's predecessor, the Nhlapo Commission, found that AmaMpondomise had no kingship. Matiwane took the matter to court and on December 13 2013, Mthatha high court judge Rob Griffiths ordered a review of the Nhlapo Commission’s decision and set it aside. However, Griffiths made no finding on whether or not the AmaMpondomise qualified for a kingship.
The claim to a throne was then taken up by the Tolo Commission, which in 2017 also found that the AmaMpondomise had no kingship.
Notyesi challenged the constitutionality and legality of the Tolo Commission, saying they doubted if it had been lawfully constituted.
They believe the Nhlapo Commission had fully investigated the AmaMpondomise kingship claim.
“'No law allows the Tolo Commission to re-open a probe already completed by its predecessor. The Tolo Commission was not authorised by the empowering legislation to re-investigate the kingship of AmaMpondomise.
“Any exercise of power or any function performed beyond that conferred upon an organ of state by the law is invalid,” Notyesei said.
He said the Tolo Commission's investigation was not only tainted by error “but is an irrelevant consideration and no reasonable decision maker would place reliance on it”.
“Relying on the Tolo Commission’s recommendations was unlawful because that commission did not have the power to investigate and make such recommendations.
“For these reasons, the decision of the former president is unlawful and is liable to be reviewed and set aside,” said Notyesi in the court papers.
He added even the presidency in a memo in 2017 stated that “there is a doubt as to whether the Tolo Commission was properly constituted”.
lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
AmaMpondomise court bid to restore royalty
The AmaMpondomise are heading back to court to in a bid to have their kingship, which they lost 115 years ago, restored.
Head of the AmaMpondomise Luzuko Matiwane has filed papers at the Mthatha high court to challenge former President Jacob Zuma's decision to not recognise their kingship.
He also wants the court to declare the processes of the Tolo Commission unfair, saying his attorney, Mvuzo Notyesi, had been prohibited from participating in the commission's proceedings and that Matiwane's rights had been “severely curtailed”.
The matter will be heard on Thursday.
AmaMpondomise claim they were stripped of their kingship by the British colonial government in 1904 after King Mhlontlo was accused of killing white Qumbu magistrate Hamilton Hope and two white police officers during the Mpondomise Revolt of 1880-81. Mhlontlo was acquitted, but they claim kingship was never restored.
Since 1912 they have appealed to successive governments for the restoration of the Mpondomise monarchical status. In 2010 the Tolo Commission's predecessor, the Nhlapo Commission, found that AmaMpondomise had no kingship. Matiwane took the matter to court and on December 13 2013, Mthatha high court judge Rob Griffiths ordered a review of the Nhlapo Commission’s decision and set it aside. However, Griffiths made no finding on whether or not the AmaMpondomise qualified for a kingship.
The claim to a throne was then taken up by the Tolo Commission, which in 2017 also found that the AmaMpondomise had no kingship.
Notyesi challenged the constitutionality and legality of the Tolo Commission, saying they doubted if it had been lawfully constituted.
They believe the Nhlapo Commission had fully investigated the AmaMpondomise kingship claim.
“'No law allows the Tolo Commission to re-open a probe already completed by its predecessor. The Tolo Commission was not authorised by the empowering legislation to re-investigate the kingship of AmaMpondomise.
“Any exercise of power or any function performed beyond that conferred upon an organ of state by the law is invalid,” Notyesei said.
He said the Tolo Commission's investigation was not only tainted by error “but is an irrelevant consideration and no reasonable decision maker would place reliance on it”.
“Relying on the Tolo Commission’s recommendations was unlawful because that commission did not have the power to investigate and make such recommendations.
“For these reasons, the decision of the former president is unlawful and is liable to be reviewed and set aside,” said Notyesi in the court papers.
He added even the presidency in a memo in 2017 stated that “there is a doubt as to whether the Tolo Commission was properly constituted”.
lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
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