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The court dramas of AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo have certainly kept him in the spotlight, but why should ordinary South Africans care?
Besides the fact that a king is being sent to prison the case has highlighted various other issues – the question of whether all South Africans are equal before the law, the roles of traditional leaders, and some rather interesting political allegiances ahead of local government elections next year.
“I think the Dalindyebo case is getting so much attention because what we see here is whether everyone is truly equal before the law,” said Advocate James Grant, of the Johannesburg Bar Council.
“It is something that goes beyond the Bill of Rights. It is something that we hold dear to our moral code.”
Professor Somadoda Fikeni, a political analyst at the University of South Africa, said the stakes were very high.
“It is a real test of the rule of law – whether a king, president or minister, if they break the law, will still be subjected to the rule of law and whether it will be implemented,” he said.
A sentence of 12 years is hanging over Dalindyebo’s head after the court of appeal maintained his convictions for arson, assault and defeating the ends of justice.
In a final attempt to avoid prison, Dalindyebo is bringing an urgent application to extend his bail in the Mthatha High Court this afternoon.
Fikeni added that, with the local government elections coming up in 2016, political parties might be doing their calculations.
“The king has always been a very controversial figure. Will his case have any effect on a specific party? I don’t think it will be significant. Remember this is a controversial figure and the royal family, Thembus and the nation are divided on the matter.
“In the case of the DA one can argue that it was ill-advised to embrace him while his case was still on appeal only for them to dump him later. On the other hand some hardcore ANC members may question why the party did not intervene.”
Professor Andre Duvenhage, political analyst at North-West University, said the ANC was working to shift its support base from a rural-and-urban power base to a rural one.
Duvenhage said the party was looking into the extent to which it could get its traditional power bases behind it. President Jacob Zuma especially was trying to woo traditional leaders in the northern provinces.
The ANC has become very vulnerable in the urban areas of the Eastern Cape and the party would rely on rural support. However, it had already decided that the AbaThembu king was not part of that package, he said.
