Nearly half of South Africa’s traditional monarchies are to be abolished in a government move to bury another legacy of the apartheid era.
Some of the kings were originally appointed by the white minority government with few legitimate claims to their thrones, a report found. They were part of a divide and rule strategy to undermine opposition to the apartheid regime, South African President Jacob Zuma said.
Zuma announced that six out of 13 monarchies would be derecognized to correct “the wrongs of the past” and defuse tensions among rival leaders. He stressed that no one would be accused of being an apartheid collaborator.
South Africa is a constitutional democracy and its traditional monarchs are symbolic figureheads with little political power, although they still preside over hearings to resolve tribal disputes. The National House of Traditional Leaders advises parliament on issues of customary law.
Seven of South Africa’s 13 kingships were approved after a six-year study by the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims. The other six will end when the incumbent ruler dies, with their successors becoming lower-ranking leaders.
“The apartheid regime created its own traditional leadership at the expense of authentic leadership in some communities,” Zuma said. “It was how those in charge divided and disunited people. We urge all communities to accept the findings in the spirit of correcting the wrongs of the past and as part of the country’s nation-building efforts.”
The move will also mean savings for the South African taxpayer because each monarchy is subsidized by the government. But leaders of the six kingships affected by the move have said they will challenge their demotion in court.
One political analyst, who did not wish to be named, said: “Whatever the circumstances of their appointment, some of the leaders have come to think of themselves as royalty and won’t go quietly. In some contexts, there is a risk of violence between rival groups.”
But Steven Friedman, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, described the threat of violence as “implausible.”
“There will be quibbles over which monarchies were legitimate and which weren’t, but there was a great deal of manipulation under apartheid of traditional institutions. The decisions look pretty expected and sensible,” he said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in