Senior member of a royal family shot dead in Limpopo

Limpopo police are on the hunt for a suspect after a senior member of a royal family in Mokopane was gunned down at his home on Sunday night.

Provincial police spokesperson Lt-Col Mamphaswa Seabi said Mghobane Kekana, who is a senior member of the Kekana royal family, was killed after an armed man entered his home forcefully.  

Seabi said the door to the house was damaged during the attack as the assailant forced himself in before firing shots at Kekana. He said the gunman fled the scene after the attack, leaving Kekana for dead. Police said nothing of value was taken from the house.

“Investigations are still ongoing and we are investigating a case of murder,” Seabi said. He said the motive for the crime was yet to be established.

But spokesperson for the royal family Dave Kekana said they suspected that Kekana was targeted due to ongoing infighting over the chieftaincy which has caused tensions within the community over the years.

“This has to do with the chieftaincy and people who think they can take their chances,” he said.

Dave said there had been factional squabbles that intensified in 2018 after the previous chief was removed and the Tolo Commission made recommendations for the royal family to marry a candle wife who would give birth to the next heir to the throne.

He said the family was advised to appoint an acting deputy chairperson of the Mokopane Traditional Council to facilitate the process of finding a candle wife.  

“The person who was elected unopposed was Mghobane. So those who are not in the line of the royal family decided to contest. They wanted to hijack the process,” Dave said.

mahopoz@sowetan.co.za