The AbaThembu nation which “seceded” from South Africa now has an emperor and a king. And it will now officially be known as the Thembuland Royal Empire, writes By Lubabalo Ngcukana
This was revealed in a statement issued on behalf of King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo by his lawyer, Votani Majola.
It stated that Majola himself had been appointed the new emperor.
Dalindyebo, who will remain king, was expected to travel to Cape Town tomorrow to introduce the interim Cabinet to stakeholders.
The stakeholders include chiefs, politicians and business, church and community leaders.
Majola said Dalindyebo would lead the delegation and was expected to clarify issues around the secession of Thembuland from South Africa and other pertinent issues such as the Thembuland Royal Bank and their interim constitution.
The lawyer said Thembuland Royal Empire consists of six provinces – Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
The nation seceded on January 14 and would celebrate its independence from South Africa at Bumbane Great Place on April 25, he said.
Majola, who now goes by the name of Dabulamanzi Emperor Thembu (II) , said a six-member Cabinet team had already been appointed by the king and would be officially sworn in on April 25.
Last month, during a heated meeting at the Bumbane Great Place, Dalindyebo said it was not proper that his right-hand man, Majola, did not have a praise name and announced that he would be called Dabulamanzi.
Yesterday Majola said the King Dalindyebo Justice Task Team (KDJTT) had been disbanded and its functions would now be performed by the interim Cabinet.
The task team was formed by Majola last year to fight Dalindyebo’s legal battles after he was convicted by the Mthatha High Court and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment.
Dalindyebo, former State President Nelson Mandela’s clan nephew, was convicted of various serious crimes ranging from culpable homicide, kidnapping, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and defeating the ends of justice. He was granted leave to appeal.
The State was also granted a right to appeal for a harsher sentence.
Thembuland Royal Empire’s interim constitution states that Dalindyebo would be head of state while Majola would head government. The king’s powers included appointing the Cabinet and ruling by decree over the constitution.
The emperor, Majola, would be responsible for the day-to- day running of the government with each of six Cabinet members in charge of the six provinces Thembuland claimed.
The three-page constitution starts: “Thembuland Royal Empire is a sovereign state ….”
However, “the law of the Republic of South Africa remains applicable within the empire except if the same has been altered by means of a decree”.
Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos yesterday said that legally the AbaThembu could not secede. “What they are doing cannot be legally valid. There is no possibility of that.”
De Vos said Dalindyebo and his supporters were, however, legally allowed to make claims for land.
But it was when the AbaThembu took action or steps to undermine the authority of South Africa that they would be treading on thin ice, De Vos said.
“If you engage in action that in effect is going to overthrow the State or attempt to overthrow the authority of a State, then you can be found guilty of treason.”
He said the South African government was not taking the Thembus seriously because they had not taken any violent action against the State.
He said this would be different if they told their followers to disobey the South African government by not paying taxes or not following the law or resisting the police.
De Vos said that, given the fact that the secession idea came after the king was convicted, “the suspicion would always be that this is an attempt to evade the South African justice system on the king’s part”.
