Dethroned Chief Ndiweni ‘not silenced, but in mourning’

FORMER Ntabazinduna chief Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni has not been silenced by his dethronement as a traditional leader, but is in mourning, his spokesperson Nothiwani Dlodlo said yesterday.

The former Matabeleland North chief lost his mother, Agnes Masuku (96), in March. She was buried at her rural home in Ntabazinduna, Matabeleland North province.

Ndiweni, a fierce government critic, has been eerily quiet in recent months, with critics suggesting that the dethronement silenced him.

Dlodlo, however, argued otherwise.

“He has not been silenced; he is not silent,” Dlodlo said yesterday.

In 2007, outspoken government critic and Catholic bishop Pius Ncube was forced into silence following accusations of adultery after an apparent Statesponsored sex sting that year.

“He (Ndiweni) is still in mourning as per our cultural norms. He cannot be seen in the public spaces, and not showing ubuntu when he is in mourning. Also, that is not a government position, and hence he can never be silenced,” Dlodlo said of Ndiweni.

The outspoken former chief recently called for COVID-19 donations, financial or otherwise, to be sent directly to the beneficiaries such as healthcare workers so that they are not pilfered because of government bureaucracy.

Government has been receiving various resources to fight the COVID-19, but critics worry that the donations are either taking too long or not even reaching the intended beneficiaries, in the process derailing the fight against the disease.

Ndiweni is fighting his recent removal as Ntabazinduna chief by the government.

He has approached the High Court seeking to overturn a Local Government ministry decision to remove him as substantive chief on grounds that his chieftainship was being contested by his elder brother, Joram, who argues he is the rightful heir.

The ministry also stripped Ndiweni of all benefits accruing to him.