Senior traditional leaders in the Vhembe region of Limpopo were urged to identify core royal family members in an effort to avoid traditional leadership squabbles when it is necessary to appoint the next heir.

This comes after the workshop for the identification and documentation of the core royal family members recently organized by the Department of Traditional Affairs and the Department of Cooperative Governance, Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA). The workshop was held in the former Venda Parliamentary buildings in Thohoyandou.

“We were invited by the Vhavenda King, Toni Mphephu Ramabulana and COGHSTA to discuss all relevant issues surrounding the appoinment of leaders. We discovered that, after the death of the chief, some royal families caused division when they wanted to appoint an heir. If the family or clan has identified and documented the next ruler, the community and other royal family members will have an easy task to have a peaceful transition," said Ms Welile Khuzwayo, the director of the research unit in COGHSTA.

Khuzwayo warned that, unless all members of the royal family were listed to be part of the exercise, they would be rejected whenever an opportunity arose. The spokesperson for the King, Mr Jackson Mafunzwaini, said about 28 Vhavenda senior traditional leaders in the Vhembe region had attended the workshop.“We hope this and similar workshops will help in resolving traditional disputes and squabbles that always arise among the Vhavenda chiefs when appointing an heir. We strongly applaud the way that our traditional leaders turned up in large numbers to get information that will help them and their communities,” said Mafunzwaini.