Ramaphosa says Contralesa wants a commission of inquiry into the killing of 33 traditional leaders

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the keynote address at the 8th Elective Congress of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa). Picture: Jairus Mmutle/GCIS

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers the keynote address at the 8th Elective Congress of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa). Picture: Jairus Mmutle/GCIS

Published Apr 30, 2022

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Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA (Contralesa) has called for a commission of inquiry into the killing of traditional leaders in the country.

This came as 33 traditional leaders have been killed in the last few months, with many of them in KwaZulu-Natal.

Ramaphosa told the Contralesa conference held in Boksburg, Gauteng, on Saturday, that he would consider all the issues raised by the traditional leaders.

Ramaphosa said he met with the leaders of Contralesa in February where they identified 16 issues the government needed to address.

However, when they sat down the list included a number of issues that required the attention of the government.

He told the conference that despite delays in addressing some of the issues he would ensure that matters were dealt with.

Traditional leaders wanted a probe into the killing of traditional leaders, said Ramaphosa.

“They also raised an important issue that there has been a spate of targeting traditional leaders.

“In a number of cases traditional leaders have been killed.

“They said 33 traditional leaders have lost their lives.

“They said there was a need to set up a commission to investigate this,” said Ramaphosa.

He said he would attend to the issues that have been raised by traditional leaders, and nothing would be swept under the carpet.

“There is nothing that is going to be swept under the carpet because we want traditional leaders to play a role as the leadership of our country, as another layer of that leadership,” he said.

“We are going to continue to address all issues you have raised.

“We will sit down with a great deal of seriousness to address all those issues.

“Where we are able to find one another we will do.

“If some of the things will take time, we will set a timeline but we are going to address them and not sweep anything under the carpet,” said Ramaphosa.

Some of the issues traditional leaders raised related to disputes, the fact that many of the traditional councils were not functional, their offices are run down and that land parcels must be transferred to traditional authorities.

“They added that infrastructure in rural areas leaves much to be desired,” said Ramaphosa.

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