Grocott's Mail
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • War has no heroic ending
  • Peel open your mind with Brendon
  • The new witching hour
  • The truth is all that matters
  • Piecing together trauma for healing
  • The Long Table: Fest’s warm heart and satisfied belly
  • Activists take government to court over “unfair” R350 grant application rules
  • A street sign is a premonition
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Grocott's Mail
Cue Media
  • NEWS
    • Courts & Crime
    • Features
    • Politics
    • People
    • Health & Well-being
  • SPORT
    • News
    • Results
    • Sports Diary
    • Club Contacts
    • Columns
    • Sport Galleries
    • Sport Videos
  • OPINION
    • Election Connection
    • Makana Voices
    • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
    • Newtown… Old Eyes
    • Incisive View
    • Your Say
  • ARTSLIFE
    • Makana Sharp!
    • Visual Art
    • Literature
    • Food & Fun
    • Festivals
    • Community Arts
    • Going Places
  • OUR TOWN
    • What’s on
    • Spiritual
    • Emergency & Well-being
    • Safety
    • Civic
    • Municipality
    • Weather
    • Properties
      • Grahamstown Properties
    • Your Town, Our Town
  • OUTSIDE
    • Enviro News
    • Gardening
    • Farming
    • Science
    • Conservation
    • Motoring
    • Pets/Animals
  • ECONOMIX
    • Business News
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Personal Finance
  • EDUCATION
    • Education NEWS
    • Education OUR TOWN
    • Education INFO
  • Covid-19
  • EDITORIAL
Grocott's Mail
You are at:Home»NEWS»Courts & Crime»Amahlathi celebrate court win
Courts & Crime

Amahlathi celebrate court win

Staff ReporterBy Staff ReporterJune 28, 2017No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email

Yesterday in the Bhisho High Court in a case that is a first of its kind, the court granted an order to disestablish a senior traditional leadership over residents of Amahlathi. The Court set aside a decision of the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims, and of the Premier, that recognised the legitimacy of a chief over the Amahlathi, and disestablished the senior traditional leadership.

The case was brought by the Amahlathi Crisis Committee, representing eight villages near King William’s Town. The Committee was represented by the Legal Resources Centre.

The Committee asked that the court set aside this decision, arguing that the custom of the Amahlathi people was not to have a chief. Instead, they governed themselves through a system of elected chairpersons and have continued to practice this customary law until today.

Mr Maqoma (allegedly not his real name) was installed as chief in the area in 1982, after President Lennox Sebe of the then Ciskei created a chieftainship over the area. It was the first time residents had encountered a chief. The communities refused to recognise him and the chieftaincy all but disappeared. In 2005, with the promulgation of the Eastern Cape Traditional Leadership and Governance Act of 2005, Mr Maqoma was emboldened to reassert his authority over the area and even attempted to take over the pending restitution claims that individual Amahlathi villages had lodged in 1998.

The communities approached several government departments to challenge his authority before being advised to lodge a complaint with the Commission. The Commission ruled against them.

They approached the Legal Resources Centre to challenge this finding. The Premier and the Commission initially opposed the application but later withdrew their opposition.

When handing down his decision to disestablish the traditional leadership yesterday, Tuesday 27 June 2017, the judge noted his concern that communities have to go through such a prolonged process to have their customs recognised and commended the Amahlathi communities for not giving up. During the case, it was also noted that many matters relating to decisions made by the Commission have come before the court.

Previous ArticleGrahamstown puts on its Festival finery
Next Article Improving terms of trade will boost economic growth
Staff Reporter
  • Website

Related Posts

Activists take government to court over “unfair” R350 grant application rules

Hi-Tec arrests ‘toy gun robbers’ in failed Bathurst Street heist

Surviving her-story

Comments are closed.

Cue for you!
Cue for you!
Cue for you!
Tweets by Grocotts
Newsletter



Listen

The Rhodes University Community Engagement Division has launched Engagement in Action, a new podcast which aims to bring to life some of the many ways in which the University interacts with communities around it. Check it out below.

Latest video

Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

© 2022 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.