President Cyril Ramaphosa has washed his hands of a court bid to have the AmaMpondomise kingship restored, saying he did not know what his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, had considered when the decision was made in 2010.
Ramaphosa had initially filed opposing papers to AmaMpondomise leader Luzuko Matiwane court bid to challenge Zuma’s decision to not recognise their kingship lost 115 years ago.
However, he made a U-turn this week, with the Presidency’s director-general and secretary to the cabinet, Reginald Lubisi, on Monday filing the withdrawal.
Co-operative governance & traditional affairs minister Zweli Mkhize and the Tolo Commission are still opposing the matter – something which judge Richard Brooks said he did not understand as the country’s highest office had withdrawn its application.
“I don’t understand as to why respondents two and three are opposing while respondent one [Ramaphosa], who is the decision-maker, is not opposing anymore.
“I think the commission and the minister only make recommendations, not decisions, to the president and the president makes the decision.
“So I don’t understand on what grounds the respondents two and three are opposing,” commented Brooks.
Matiwane approached the Mthatha high court, asking it to rule in his favour and restore the AmaMpondomise kingship, which they say was taken away by the colonial government.
In the affidavit withdrawing his opposition to the matter, Lubisi said: “…this affidavit bears fundamentally on the adjudication of this matter and ought to be admitted [in court] in the interests of justice.“In addition, none of the other parties to this litigation is prejudiced by the admission of this affidavit.”The affidavit was filed after Ramaphosa had already filed an 80-page answering affidavit, which sought to address “both the procedural and substantive grounds of the challenge”.“However, on reviewing the matter in preparation of the hearing, the president has taken a decision that, given that he did not take the impugned decision, he cannot contribute further to this matter,” Lubisi said. He said the evidence in the answering affidavit was limited in relation to the substantive basis for the decision, in that extensive reference was made to key aspects of the Tolo Commission report, which also found the AmaMpondomise had no kingship.
But the nation believes Zuma had erred in not restoring what they say is their kingship.Lubisi emphasised that Ramaphosa had not taken the decision that dismissed existence of AmaMpondomise kingship, but Zuma had.“Neither the current president nor I are therefore in a position to appraise this court of exactly what factors the former president considered in taking the decision…”He asked the court that no adverse costs order be made against Ramaphosa “because he is not persisting with his opposition in the matter”.“I am advised that this court must ultimately determine whether there was a reviewable irregularity committed in taking the impugned decision.“In order to reach this conclusion, the views of [Ramaphosa] are key.“This is of particular significance given that the decision gives rise to considerations of public interest and separation of powers,” said Lubisi.Despite Ramaphosa’s withdrawal, the court still has to hear the matter and make a judgment accordingly.About 200 AmaMpondomise, some wearing traditional attire and singing their warrior songs, attended the case on Thursday.They were joined by leaders of various political leaders including the PAC, ATM and the ANC.Although all AmaMpondomise are united in calling for the restoration of the kingship, the main royal houses of Jola and Dosini are divided on who the rightful king should be – should the court rule in their favour...