08 Nov 2015

Babirwa have been urged to follow Section Six of the Bogosi Act in order to resolve the chieftainship debacle.   

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Mr Slumber Tsogwane told residents of Bobonong in a kgotla meeting on Friday November 6, that it was through the Act and proper consultation that the issue of Bogosi could be resolved.

Mr Tsogwane told residents that according to the Act, “where there is a vacancy in the bogosi of a tribe, either by reason of death, deposition, abdication or retirement, it shall be the duty of the tribe to designate the rightful successor to the throne according to the customary law or according to the established norm and practice of that tribe”.

Mr Tsogwane told residents that some people have submitted names of their preferred candidates at his office something he said  was against the Act and  unconstitutional and could be challenged before the courts of the law.

That development also undermines the Act which stipulates that the tribe must be involved in  suggesting the preferred candidate for the throne, he said.

The minister also clarified the position of Kgosi Mmirwa Malema which he said was the senior tribal authority for Bobonong but the kgosi ya Babirwa position was the one which was being contested.

The duty to select a kgosi should be left to the whole tribe and other villages outside Bobonong in a kgotla not to few individuals, he stated. Area MP Mr Shaw Kgathi said as the area representative he was at pains over the Bogosi calamity and called for people to make use of the archives, oral history and written documents to resolve the issue.

There are three claimants to the Babirwa throne amongst them Kgosi Malema, Mr Onketetse Serumola headman of arbitration at Serumola ward and Mr Adam Masilo a chief representative from Sekoba ward. ENDS