Hundreds of gatvol Bataung ba Hlalele tribe members join Patriotic Alliance

By: Sello Theletsane

The Patriotic Alliance (PA) has vowed to assist traditional leaders throughout the country who are denied recognition and whose subjects are denied their right to determine their leadership by the government.

One such tribe is Bataung ba Hlalele in Maboloka Village, near Brits in North West. The chieftaincy of this tribe is in a protracted legal battle on who is the rightful custodian of traditional leadership in Maboloka village. Lehlomela Emmanuel Lion has been locked in a long battle with David Ndei Tsajoa, over whose father was the rightful leader of the tribe.

The tribe’s troubles started after the apartheid regime banished Bataung ba Hlalele leader, King Solomon Lion, to Mount Frere in 1953 and replaced him with apartheid regime stooge John Tsajoe. In August 2019, the North West High Court in Mahikeng declared that the Lion family should be removed as a traditional leader of the Bataung ba Hlalele tribe and that the Tsajoa family was the rightful custodian of the chieftaincy. This sparked outrage which led to protests by thousands of community members who accused the courts and government of imposing leadership on them.

Last month, in an act of defiance, thousands of community members gathered at a ceremony in the village where Emmanuel Lion was officially installed as the King of Bataung ba Hlalele. The ceremony was presided over by high-profile traditional leaders from across the country. On Sunday PA Deputy president Kenny Kunene visited the village accompanied by the PA’s North West provincial leadership.

Before Kunene could take to the podium, hundreds of congregants joined the PA and swapped their church regalia with PA green T-shirts. Addressing a huge crowd that gathered at the Zion Apostolic Faith Mission church headed by King Emmanuel Lion himself, Kunene assured the tribe that his party would fight their battle to be led by a leader of their choice.

Kunene said the struggle of Bataung ba Hlalele and many other tribes in SA who find themselves in a similar situation would form a significant part of the PA’s 2024 national elections manifesto. Kunene accused the ANC of failing to reverse the apartheid regime’s decision to deny the Bataung ba Hlalele tribe its right to determine who its leader should be.

“The ANC has sold out, first at CODESA, by agreeing to safeguard properties and ill-gotten wealth of our former oppressors. We regard that as an agreement between the ANC and the apartheid regime and not an agreement between the apartheid regime and the people of South Africa. That is why we need to change our Constitution so that black people can truly be liberated.”

Kunene took a swipe at President Cyril Ramaphosa who he accused of working tirelessly to preserve the white establishment. “If you hear white people praising a black leader, you must know that leader is not serving the interests of black people but those of his white masters.” Kunene also tackled EFF leader Julius Malema who he accused of flip-flopping on land redistribution and has instead been advocating for nationalization of the land.

Kunene said taking away the land of traditional leaders and giving it to the government would render traditional leaders illegitimate and powerless as their subjects won’t have land of their own. He further accused Malema of hypocrisy, adding that the EFF leader had a tendency of talking strongly against whites in public when he himself is owned by white capital. “How can he talk about white establishment and white privilege when he lives in the backyard of his white master who has built a house for him in his property?

Talking about the plight of the Bataung ba Hlalele tribe, Kunene accused the ANC of being tormentors of the tribe, which he said was stripped off its right to determine who their leader should be. He also accused the ANC government of taking God out of schools by removing the teaching of religious education. “That is why we have become such a lost nation because our kids do not know God. These, are all problems the PA will attend to immediately we come into power.”

Kunene told the crowd that PA president Gayton McKenzie, who is also the Central Karoo District Executive mayor would run for presidency in 2024. Kunene said McKenzie had already proved himself in a few months he has spent as the executive mayor.” Kunene told the congregation how McKenzie had refused to accept a salary and other benefits. He also shared with the congregation the successes of McKenzie during his three months as district mayor that included the eradication of the bucket system, building of solar farms, and fixing three community swimming pools.

Kunene said all these have been delivered at no cost at all to the Central Karoo District Municipality. If he can deliver so much for bankrupt and a municipality that was dysfunctional and wasn’t able to deliver services to its ratepayers, imagine what he will do as president of the country,” Kunene asked.

“And juxtapose this with our so-called billionaire president who takes a salary and all other benefits from the State yet South Africans are daily faced with the high cost of living, power cuts, unaffordable fuel prices, and crime that is spiraling out of control. Instead of focusing on delivering much-needed services to the people of this country, ANC leaders are obsessed with self-enrichment at the expense of millions of poor South Africans” said Kunene.

“A classic example of this determination to self-enrich is the ANC leader himself who was caught with millions of American dollars that he still can’t account for. All these, will not happen under the PA rule. We need to stand up to save our country.” Added Kunene:” We need to win this war. I’m not here to make promises but to share with you our successes where we govern. We can bring you change as well, but only if you use your votes to put us in power.”

Kunene urged the villagers not to allow themselves to be abused by the ruling party which he said always bought votes with food parcels. He also called on community members not to allow their desperation to make them vulnerable to abuse by illegal immigrants who rent their properties and convert them into tuckshops. “When the PA takes over, all illegal immigrants will be kicked out of the country.”

“Pakistanis, Zimbabweans, Bangladeshis, Nigerians, Europeans and all those foreign nationals who do not have respect for our laws and have entered our country illegally will be deported back to their countries.” Kunene said under the PA, only foreign nationals who came legally into the country would be allowed to stay.” However these won’t be allowed to carry out jobs that can be done by South Africans, ” concluded Kunene.