King convicted for doing his job, leaders argue

One of the reasons for the AbaThembu appealing to the Constitutional Court is that King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo was doing his job as a judicial officer in a customary set-up and was empowered to impose sentences, says a report in The Herald. AbaThembu traditional leaders, at a meeting yesterday, established that the king was arrested, prosecuted and now convicted because of a mistake in a judgment he made against subjects appearing in his own court. Now they are challenging that, arguing that customary law is recognised by the Constitution and that the modern legal system had convicted him for exercising his traditional legal duty. ‘I have never heard of any magistrate or judge being charged and convicted for the decision that he or she made or his decision to overturn it,’ Nkosi Holomisa said. ‘If the decision of his majesty was found to be wrong, he should be treated the same as other judiciary officers when their decisions are overturned. He cannot therefore be criminally charged for executing his judiciary duties as king in a traditional court in line with customary law.’

Full report in The Herald (subscription needed)