Masalanabo Modjadji “simply does not qualify to be recognised as Queen of the Balobedu”, said her uncle and former regent, Mpapatla Modjadji, in court papers to the Pretoria high court.
The royal family, royal council and traditional council have asked the court to set aside President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision in December last year to recognise Masalanabo as queen and to order that he instead recognise her brother, Lekukela Hex Modjadji, as the rightful king of the Balobedu.
But in court papers filed this week, Ramaphosa said the application was “without merit” and was an attempt to resolve “protracted internal power struggles within the Royal Family ... and to settle scores”.
Ramaphosa said Masalanabo had twice been identified by the royal family itself as heir to Modjadji V1, who died when Masalanabo was a baby.
In terms of the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act, “once the identified minor ceases to be a minor, no new identification process is required. The Act compels me to recognise the successor,” he said.
But Mpapatla said Masalanabo had not grown up in the royal capital — or Mosata — and did not speak khelobedu. She had not undergone the “compulsory” girls’ initiation. She had not been educated in “the customs and taboos of the royal family, royal rituals and most of all the usage and secrets of the rain medicine”.
Masalanabo was removed from the family as a baby by her father, he said. For years she was untraceable. Then, in 2015, former MP Mathole Motshekga tracked her down. She was with her father in an “informal settlement in Kimberley in the Northern Cape,” said Mpapatla.
A Children’s Court awarded custody to Motshekga. “He promised us that he would bring Masalanabo back to the Royal House,” said Mpapatla. Based on this hope, the Royal Family identified her as heir at the same time that the Queenship of Balobedu was formally legally recognised.
Already by 2015 there were concerns about the fact that she had not grown up in the royal household. But she was only 10 years old then “and we hoped there would be enough time to get her ready to take over as queen,” said Mpapatla.“Things unfortunately turned out quite different and our hopes ... were dashed in the years that followed,” he said.
As the years passed, she did not come home — despite his efforts and an agreement, made part of the Children’s Court order, that the Motshekgas would bring her home during school holidays, said Mpapatla.
A court application for her custody failed in 2021, with her choosing to remain with the Motshekgas. “It became clear that we would have to revise the decision taken in 2015,” said Mpapatla.
In 2021 the royal family signed a resolution to identify Lekukela as king, he said. The president was asked to recognise this decision.
Motshekga then went to court to set aside the decision. But before it was heard, Masalanabo, who had by then turned 18, withdrew the case, and a few months later she was recognised by Ramaphosa as queen.
Mpapatla said there “was little doubt” Motshekga knew beforehand that Ramaphosa would recognise her and that the Motshekga's political influence “played a significant role” in the president’s decision, despite the family’s “pending application” for the recognition of Lekukela. This was denied by Ramaphosa.
Mpapatla said Motshekga had “interfered” in the affairs the Mojadji royal family. He had established a “Balobedu Royal Council”, but “there is no such Royal Council. The only Royal Council with legitimacy is the Modjadji Royal Council”.
Motshekga also released a media statement after Ramaphosa recognised Masalanabo that referred to “the Maulwe Royal Court”, confirming the royal family’s suspicion that Motshekga was “in cahoots” with a faction that were “the enemies of the Modjadji Royal Nation,” said Mpapatla.
There was a “clear attempt by a foreign group of persons with no connection to the Royal Family to replace the Modjadji Royal Family and the Modjadji Royal Council, threatening the very existence of the Balobedu kingdom,” he said.
Motshekga could not be reached for comment.
Ramaphosa said that by 2015 the royal family was already aware of many of the factors they now say disqualify her from being queen. This suggested the family’s current focus on these “historical factors is less about legitimate customary disqualification but more about ongoing internal conflicts, particularly with Dr Motshekga”.
Ramaphosa said he did not have “personal knowledge of internal squabbles within the Balobedu traditional community and of the disputes between the Modjadjis and the Motshekgas. I prefer not to comment on same”.
The legislation provided a mechanism for the withdrawal of a recognised traditional leader, yet the family had not invoked this, he said, and their 2021 decision to identify Lekukela was unlawful. Under the act, the royal family may only identify an heir when there is a vacancy. In this case, there was none.
“It is unclear why the Royal Family proceeded with this identification, as it did not comply with the law,” said Ramaphosa.
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