{"id":1358,"date":"2025-11-26T01:43:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T01:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?p=1358"},"modified":"2025-11-26T01:45:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T01:45:42","slug":"mabhikwa-dispute-back-to-chiefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?p=1358","title":{"rendered":"Mabhikwa dispute back to chiefs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by MELUSI MHLANGA<\/em>
BULAWAYO – THE Bulawayo High Court has overturned the appointment of Ms Zanele Khumalo as Regent Chief Mabhikwa, ruling that the succession dispute must be resolved through the traditional mechanisms of the Mabhikwa-Khumalo lineage.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judgment, delivered by Justice Mposeni Dube, follows a long-running conflict that began after the death of Chief Vusumuzi Khumalo in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The late chief, widely recognised as the legitimate substantive holder of the Mabhikwa chieftaincy, died unexpectedly at a young age, leaving his minor son, Wayne Makhosemvelo Khumalo, as heir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chieftainship, rooted in the historic Mlonyeni\u2013Khumalo\u2013Mabhikwa dynasty, traditionally rotates among male family lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dispute began when Ms Khumalo was appointed as regent earlier this year\u2014an arrangement that relatives argued had no basis in customary practice or Zimbabwean law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, the absence of a clear chief has left the community without a key authority responsible for land allocation, dispute resolution, cultural rites, and local leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice Dube ruled that while the court could review procedural irregularities, it \u201clacked jurisdiction to determine who should occupy a traditional office,\u201d and therefore remitted the matter to the Chief\u2019s Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judge further noted that the appointment was \u201cimproperly executed and failed to follow prescribed family consultations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applicant John Khumalo, represented by Advocate Kucaca Phulu and attorney Solomon Mguni, argued that installing Zanele created dual centres of authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe law outlines a strict, family-led succession process. It was ignored,\u201d he submitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respondents included the Minister of Local Government, the National Council of Chiefs president, provincial chiefs\u2019 leadership, Ms Khumalo, and the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The High Court\u2019s ruling now resets the succession process, placing full responsibility back in the hands of the traditional family structures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by MELUSI MHLANGABULAWAYO – THE Bulawayo High Court has overturned the appointment of Ms Zanele Khumalo as Regent Chief Mabhikwa, ruling that the succession dispute must be resolved through the traditional mechanisms of the Mabhikwa-Khumalo lineage. The judgment, delivered by Justice Mposeni Dube, follows a long-running conflict that began after the death of Chief Vusumuzi […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8,9,44,11,3],"tags":[228],"class_list":["post-1358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editors-pick","category-featured","category-hot-topics","category-latest-updates","category-local","category-must-read","category-news","tag-the-late-lupanes-chief-vusumuzi-khumalo-mabikwa"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vusumuzi-Khumalo-Mabikwa-150x150.jpeg","medium":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vusumuzi-Khumalo-Mabikwa-300x168.jpeg","medium_large":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vusumuzi-Khumalo-Mabikwa.jpeg","large":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vusumuzi-Khumalo-Mabikwa.jpeg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vusumuzi-Khumalo-Mabikwa.jpeg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vusumuzi-Khumalo-Mabikwa.jpeg","post-thumbnail":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vusumuzi-Khumalo-Mabikwa.jpeg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"administrator","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3d5ebfe727f13fb325bd400aaaf5e789d3e2e20898883d9ae8e3d3d42d58cef?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"by MELUSI MHLANGABULAWAYO – THE Bulawayo High Court has overturned the appointment of Ms Zanele Khumalo as Regent Chief Mabhikwa, ruling that the succession dispute must be resolved through the traditional mechanisms of the Mabhikwa-Khumalo lineage. The judgment, delivered by Justice Mposeni Dube, follows a long-running conflict that began after the death of Chief Vusumuzi […]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["Editor's Pick","Featured","Hot Topics","Latest Updates","Local","Must Read","News"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":187,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":2,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vusumuzi-Khumalo-Mabikwa.jpeg",600,335,false],"medium":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vusumuzi-Khumalo-Mabikwa-300x168.jpeg",300,168,true],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Vusumuzi-Khumalo-Mabikwa-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"administrator","author_link":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/?author=2"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3d5ebfe727f13fb325bd400aaaf5e789d3e2e20898883d9ae8e3d3d42d58cef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"Editor's Pick<\/a> Featured<\/a> Hot Topics<\/a> Latest Updates<\/a> Local<\/a> Must Read<\/a> News<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1360,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1358\/revisions\/1360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matabeletoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}