Pretoria - The Balobedu Royal Council has installed Prince Lekukela Modjadji as the new king, saying it was forced to move on after trying in vain to bring Princess Masalanabo back to the royal kraal for traditional rituals assessment.
Prince Lekukela’s traditional coronation took place at Khetlhakoni village, Modjadjiskloof, Limpopo, on Saturday – a day after the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, dismissed with costs an urgent application to interdict the ceremony filed by ANC national executive committee (NEC) member Mathole Motshekga.
Motshekga and his wife, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, had raised Prince Masalanabo as her foster parents after the death of her mother, Queen Makobo Modjadji VI, in 2005.
On Friday, Judge CJ van der Westhuizen found Motshekga had no right to represent Princess Masalanabo, adding he was a self-appointed foster parent.
The court also ruled that Motshekga had no locus standi to act on behalf of Princess Masalanabo because the recent decision of the children’s court offered him no such rights.
In 2019, the Modjadji royal family accused Motshekga, who was the queen’s legal adviser at the time, of turning Princess Masalanabo against them to “hijack” the throne. He had rejected the accusation as baseless.
Speaking on the sidelines of the traditional coronation ceremony for Prince Lukukela – which paves the way for him to become king – Modjadji Royal Council spokesperson Ronnie Maroatshehla said Queen Makobo VI’s successor was a done deal.
“The royal council has decided Prince Lukukela must become king. He is king-elect. There is no way Princess Masalanabo can take over from her brother.
“We are done from the cultural point. We will be writing letters to the Presidency (for the government) to give us a date for the coronation of the king.
“We have done everything humanly possible to bring Princess Masalanabo back home to the royal kraal so that the rituals of identification could take place (so we could) come to a logical conclusion that she would be the right person, but because of her absence we continued with the one who was present.”
Princess Masalanabo, widely expected to be crowed as queen when she turned 18 next year, would play a different role within the royal family, he said. “There is no contest. If she does come back, the only position reserved for her is Khadikholo (great aunt), because we won’t disown or abandon her.
“She is welcome to come to the coronation.”
The decision to install Prince Lukukela will end a 200-year-old tradition of the nation being ruled by a woman. The legal battle over the throne continues on October 13 in the Polokwane High Court.
Pretoria News