The Constitutional Court will once again deal with the continuing dispute about who is the rightful heir to the kingship of amaMpondo aseQaukeni‚ a community residing in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape.
In 2013‚ the court set aside the notices that the then President Jacob Zuma made in the government gazette‚ recognising the kingship of Zanozuko Tyelovuyo Sigcau in 2010 and dismissing that of the incumbent Mpondombini Sigcau.
The court’s decision was expected to settle the question of kingship‚ which has dogged the amaMpondo aseQaukeni nation since 1937‚ when King Mandlonke died without issue.
However‚ Mpondombini Sigcau died three months before the court judgment. His family adopted the position that the Constitutional Court had vindicated Mpondombini Sigcau’s claim to the kingship. The family then nominated his daughter‚ Wezizwe Feziwe Sigcau‚ as the queen.
However‚ the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs and the president approached the High Court in Pretoria‚ seeking an order declaring that Wezizwe Sigcau had no right to claim the position of the queen of amaMpondo aseQaukeni.
The minister and the president said the law did not require the president to consult the royal family to identify the king. The High Court agreed with the president’s definition of the law.
Wezizwe Sigcau’s application to the Supreme Court of Appeal was also dismissed last year‚ and she will present her case to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday. The president and the minister are opposing her appeal.
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