SILINDILE NYATHIKAZI

Durban - A WAR is brewing over land disputes between a Zulu traditional chief, his family and his community at large.

Inkosi Cosmos Sawela Kubheka of Manzana, Osizweni, in Newcastle, is accused by his family of corruption and gross misconduct dating back over 10 years.

The family reported that they had tried all possible avenues to resolve the matter internally, with no success and have now taken the matter up with the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta).

In October last year the family, which is now divided into two factions, lodged a formal complaint with Cogta but were dissatisfied with the department’s handling of the matter.

The latest source of contention was a family meeting that was supposed to be held with the chief at the beginning of January, but did not take place due to the chief’s “arrogance”.

According to the chief’s nephew Xolani Kubheka, the family had run out of patience and were furious over his constant display of arrogance.

Matters apparently got physical when the chief was confronted about addressing basic service delivery issues in Manzana’s Ward 13 – the area he manages.

“The Khathide (Kubheka) family has been observing his behaviour and conduct ever since he became Inkosi. Time and again, it has been noted that he is destroying his father’s legacy and undermining everything he stood for. We have tried to address our grievances several times now and he has never cooperated or pitched for any of the meetings,” said Xolani.

Cogta instructed Inkosi to plan a family meeting to address all the issues that were raised against him, however, the family alleges that he had tried to sabotage all engagements through last minute notices and not making himself available.

“In our last attempt to meet him, we were held against our will and we felt violated in many ways. A traditional leader is supposed to be addressing conflicts within our community, not instigating them,” said Xolani.

Some of the details that were construed as the chief’s misconduct were:

– Members of his family are not part of his team and there was allegedly no advisory committee to serve as quality control in his decision making;

– the chief has allegedly excluded the family from discussions relating to the grave sites of their great grandparents that were near ArcelorMittal and instructed the company to not engage with anyone but him on the matter;

– the family has been chased away from the chief’s home on several incidents and have been “publicly disrespected” on numerous occasions;

– the chief was accused of selling land that is rich in mineral resources to the public for housing. This land is causing conflicts and quarrels in the community as its rightful owners have not been consulted in the process.

A community leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the community land had become known as “mafia’s land”.

“Inkosi does not administrate land allocation by himself. Instead he sends Izinduna who are notorious for profiting from these land allocations. The community has noted that Inkosi is only concerned about the payments and that he never goes in person to confirm or have records of stand allocations,” said the community leader.

“Izinduna allocates stands for themselves and their relatives for free or girls in return for sexual favours. Last year, stands were selling for R1500 each and went up to R2500. Right now they are selling at R500 each without changing size or the parameters; in fact the stand sizes have been reduced drastically. There is no clear communication between him and the community for his sudden price hikes but this also goes to show that land allocation is pushed because of the profits.”

The community leader also reported that the community was frustrated by the swift allocation of land without any developmental projects.

“All the money from land allocation and ’khonza’ fees goes into his personal uses on expensive booze and girls. They are buying themselves cars and bragging about buying expensive clothing. The community is more concerned about important things such as depleting land for burial spaces, recreational activities (sporting fields) schools, clinics, power substation and shopping complexes. The money that is generated from the housing allocations goes straight to their wallets. He has neglected the needs of the community for too long.”

The Kubheka family at their family home on Christmas Day - December 2020. I SUPPLIED

The state of the roads in Ward 13 Manzana where the new stands are. I SUPPLIED

According to the KZN Traditional Leadership and Governance and Governance Act of 2005, traditional leaders and councils were required to liaise and co-operate with the municipal officials prior to land allocation for whatever reasons.

This was done to ensure that there was enough land reserved for community developmental projects but according to the family, people have started building houses in areas that the municipal officials will deem unsuitable for using (i.e, under main electrical lines or water reservoir tanks) as a result of his rushes land allocations without consulting the stakeholders.

“We are very aware that Inkosi receives payment at the end of each month from the state, however he has no regard for the laws and regulations of South Africa. He continues to operate unregulated and without consequences but the family and community has had enough,” said Xolani.

Cogta has confirmed they were aware of the disputes reported in October last year and has instructed the Amajuba District Office to closely monitor the situation but have however concluded that the matters were more of a personal nature. They also maintained that the “Inkosi’s Traditional Council is fully functional and there no governance issues”.

“We have been presented with and are aware of a number of complaints of uMndeni members that Inkosi has refused access to uMndeni graveyard area, that Inkosi has allocated family fields (amasimu) to community members without consulting uMndeni and that the aunts are not happy with the behaviour of Inkosi but we do not have specifics.

“Having listened to this presentation the department realized that the matter was more personal and not a governance issue,” said Traditional Affairs Deputy Director General, Sikhumbuzo Gumede.

On this basis, the department instructed Inkosi to convene a meeting to resolve these “personal issues” and to provide feedback on the outcomes. According to the department, the feedback thus far was that Inkosi has since called two meetings to no avail in an attempt to deal with this matter in November and December 2020 respectively.

Further feedback from the department as received from Inkosi was :

“The Inkosi called the first meeting in November 2020 where those complaining (aunts) didn't attend saying that they were unable to attend that meeting since it was taking place at Inkosi’s residence. They demanded a neutral venue. A second meeting was called in December 2020 at Ubuhlebomzinyathi offices. It is reported that Inkosi arrived 15 minutes late because he had an earlier engagement where he had to welcome one of the MECs in his District. Those complaining abandoned this meeting saying that Inkosi was disrespectful to them by not prioritizing their meeting. They left the meeting venue. Inkosi tendered his apologies but it was all in vain.

“In January 2021 Inkosi was requested to have this meeting sitting for the third time. As aforementioned the matter is a dispute and has nothing to do with governance and service delivery matters. It can also be pointed out that the area of Newcastle in particular rural and farm lands is engulfed in land and site allocation disputes to some extent that involves Ingonyama Trust. In conclusion the outcome of the uMndeni meeting is awaited but in the mean time the departmental District Office of Amajuba is closely monitoring the situation.”

Responding to the allegations, the Inkosi said: "These people are fighting me over the Chieftaincy. I don't know what they want or where they think they are going to get with this. I do not want to keep speaking about this matter because I have reported it to Cogta and all my letters and documentation is sitting with them. I do not want to comment but I need to meet with Cogta soon as the matter has been sitting with them since last year."

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