Traditional leaders seek the removal of the ANC's top 7

Bakholokoe ruler challenges legality of leadership

- By Setumo Stone

King Letsitsa Moloi, representing the Bakholokoe Kingdom in Free State and the Pan African Council of Traditional Customary Authority (Pactca), has filed court papers seeking to strip the ANC top seven leaders - including President Cyril Ramaphosa - of their powers as office bearers of the party's national executive committee.

The case, brought before the Bloemfontein High Court and set for hearing on July 24, seeks to remove the governing party's top leaders from their positions as party office bearers and to restore authority to traditional leaders.

Moloi and Pactca, an organisation of traditional and customary leaders, argue that the ANC has failed its founding mandate to restore the land and human dignity of Africans and has unlawfully stripped traditional authorities of their historical power.

The respondents named are a roll call of the ANC's power structure: President Ramaphosa, Deputy President Paul Mashatile, chairperson Gwede Mantashe, secretary-general Fikile Mbalula, deputy secretaries-general Nomvula Mokonyane and Maropene Ramokgopa and treasurer-general Gwen Ramokgopa.