The house of traditional leaders says they have been insulted by the weekend statement of former president Kgalema Motlanthe on the issue of communal land. This is after Motlanthe, speaking during the ANC land summit in Boksburg, said the ANC must pay attention to land tenure rights in rural areas as it would in the urban areas.
Motlanthe was quoted as saying majority of traditional leaders are acting as village tin-pot dictators to the people.
The traditional leaders are enraged after being referred to as village tin-pot dictators. The house of traditional leaders chairperson, Inkosi Sipho Mahlangu says they were not consulted about or invited to the summit.
Mahlangu says as leaders they are aggrieved by the former president’s statement. “Infact Mr Motlathe’s remarks are a total disregard to the ANC led government for he has severely tarnished the ANC image and its attempt to build relations with traditional leaders. We can only conclude that his statement lacks the understanding of the sector and also show that he may not been privy to any traditional council in the country.”
The chair of Eastern Cape house of traditional leaders, Mwelo Nonkonyama says the utterance of former president Motlanthe has left a sour taste in their mouths.
“It’s insensitive, in fact that word insensitive is very polite to us really we really have been insulted by that statement hence we felt he mentioned that in public so we must clear that in public. Even people in urban areas, whether they are in rural or pre-urban areas, they support us. That insult, we can’t leave unchallenged,” says Nonkonyama.
The house of traditional leaders say they support the current debate of expropriation of land without compensation. Inkosi Sipho Mahlangu says the constitution must be altered in order to effect the change.
The national house of traditional leaders says it plans to host a land summit to engage with communities.
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