Family calls for king to be jailed

THE abaThembu royal family has called on the authorities to arrest King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo and get him started in serving a 15-year jail term for a string of convictions in 2009 for serious crimes.

Royal family spokesman Daludumo Mtirara said it had been more than five years since the Mthatha High Court found the king guilty of attempted murder, arson, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice.

Dalindyebo appealed against the sentence, but the case has yet to appear before the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein.

Daludumo Mtirara called on the registrar of the Mthatha High Court to issue a warrant of arrest against the king and said: “If, by the end of this month the king is not arrested, we will mobilise the abaThembu nation and will render the justice system in Mthatha ungovernable.”

But Dalindyebo’s spokesman, Mfundo Mtirara, said: “We’ve lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, because we know that there are laws in this country.

“This is no banana republic where things are done according to individuals’ wishes. There are laws that are followed.”

Daludumo Mtirara said the decision to mobilise protest was also prompted by allegations that the king had confronted some of his victims.

He said: “We fail to understand [why the king was not jailed], especially when the same convicted king has been confronting some of the victims, forcing them to relocate without cause.”

He said the Department of Correctional Services should correct the king’s morals while he was in jail.

“There’s no way that a person like a king can remain outside jail while we know that he requires assistance from professionals in Correctional Services.”

Daludumo Mtirara also alleged that the court records had been stolen from the Mthatha High Court, but this could not be confirmed by Mthatha’s National Prosecuting Authority spokesman, Luxolo Tyali, who could not be reached.