Two Matabeleland chiefs might have landed themselves in trouble with other members of the 35-member chiefs council for meeting Nelson Chamisa, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Chief Vezi Maduna of Filabusi in Matabeleland South and Chief Nhlanhla Ndiweni of Matabeleland North met Chamisa at his party's headquarters.
The meeting is understood to have angered the chiefs council.
During the meeting, the chiefs discussed Chamisa's views on the economy, politics and the terms for talks with President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The two chiefs have an acrimonious relationship with Mnangagwa.
Maduna has been outspoken on the need for an inquiry into the Gukurahundi killings in which 20,000 people were massacred by Robert Mugabe's notorious Fifth Brigade in the 1980s. He has asked the UN to set up the inquiry, to be led by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini and SA's former public protector Thuli Madonsela.
Ndiweni last month wrote a scathing open letter to Mnangagwa. He criticised using soldiers to quell last month's protests in which 17 were reportedly killed.
Nothiwani Dlodlo, an aide to the two chiefs, accused Chief Fortune Charumbira, the leader of the chiefs council, of urging the council to strip the pair of their titles.
"Chiefs should be allowed to meet anyone as long as they remain apolitical," he said.
Charumbira told the Sunday Times he was not behind plans to oust the two chiefs.
"The removal of a chief is not done by us. The chiefs council has no role whatsoever. The president is the appointing authority of the chiefs, not me or the chiefs council."
He said he was aware of the criticisms raised by Maduna and Ndiweni, but nothing formal had been communicated to him.
"We can only respond to their concerns if they are formally brought to me or the chiefs council," he said.
Charumbira's bias towards the ruling Zanu-PF has often been on display. Last week he publicly asked all traditional leaders to rally behind Mnangagwa and the governing party despite a court order that bars him and other traditional leaders from taking sides.
Jacob Mafume, the national spokesperson for the MDC Alliance, said Charumbira could not act against the two Matabeleland chiefs.
"Chief Charumbira cannot recall the chiefs just like that because the chiefs have a hereditary function . The chiefs visited Chamisa, which everyone can do."..