'Tzaneen lacks respect'

Cultural activists and experts have accused the Greater Tzaneen municipality in Limpopo of disrespecting traditional leaders.

- Masoka Dube

The disagreement ensued after the municipality demolished more than 60 houses and 30 shacks in Mokgolobotho village outside Tzaneen, experts said.

Chief Mogale Mokgolobotho said Mokgolobotho comprised 1 328 verified beneficiaries across 344 households under a minister-approved Section 42D restitution settlement and that his lawyers had approached the court to compel the municipality to rebuild the houses.

Herold Lekhuleni, an expert from the Oral History Association of South Africa, criticised the municipality.

"From time immemorial, the traditional leaders have been known to be the custodians of the land. They were the government of the people," he said.