Court defers Limpopo royal battle case over land

The Limpopo High Court in Polokwane has struck off the roll the matter between the Bakone ba Mametja Royal Council and Banareng ba Ga-Sekororo after the parties failed to file their heads of argument.

Bakone ba Mametja regent Kgoshikgadi Maleko Mametja had approached the court to stop Kgoshi Seshego Sekororo from appointing headmen, awarding stands for new homes and that he should refrain from giving permits for initiation schools under her ancestral land.

Judge Francis Kganyago said he could not continue with the case because both parties had failed to file their arguments.

"I'm strucking the matter off the roll and I'm giving the applicant and respondent [time] to file heads of arguments. When you are ready you can place the matter [back] on the roll," he said.

Mametja claims three villages - The Willows, Worcester and Sedawa - which form a quarter of the Sekororo land fall under her jurisdiction.

Sekororo's attorney Johan Jacobsz said the applicant was the one delaying the matter because they have not received correspondence from her. Mametja and her legal team were not in court.

Speaking from outside the court, Sekororo dismissed the claims that the three villages did not belong to him, saying that there are records proving that the land belongs to him.

"We have been occupying the land for many years. Even the schools in the area are named after my forefathers. My headmen are legit and they have been on government's payroll because they are legitimately recognised," he said.