Even the dead are not allowed to rest in peace in the leadership dispute between the Thulamela municipality mayor, Chief Thivhulawi Makumbane, and petty-headman Luambo Morris Nekhwevha.

The two are at loggerheads over who is the rightful leader of Tshisaulu Village.

Nekhwevha has submitted his claim to the Nhlapo Commission, the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims. But even before the matter has been solved by the commission led by Judge Thandabantu Nhlapo, the two are at war.

The problem started when, during the Womens’ Day Celebrations, Makumbane allegedly entered what is used as a sacred burial site of the Nekhwevha clan and removed trees and grass.

The Nekhwevhas claim that, in the process, the graves were damaged and it is seen as an act of revenge, since they launched a claim against Makumbane. It made the Nekhwevha family hot under the collar and resulted in a court interdict at the High Court of South Africa in Thohoyandou on Monday.

In the matter, heard by Chief Justice Ali Lukoto, the court ruled that Makumbane be restricted from removing weeds from the sacred forests where the Khwevhas bury their dead.

Makumbane was also ordered to refrain from entering the fields with the purpose of destroying or damaging any tombstones or graves or the environment.

He was also ordered to refrain from digging or causing any grave to be dug within the sacred forests without permission of the applicants.

Makumbane was also stopped from converting the sacred forests or graveyard into a public cemetery or any other purpose without permission of the applicant.

That was an interim order and Makumbane must show cause by August 31 why the order should not be final.

Makumbane, when contacted for comment, confirmed that it was true that they got into the graveyards with the purpose of cleaning them, so they could be used by the public. He said he could not say anything more as the matter was sub judice.

He refused to acknowledge that, if the graveyards were damaged, they were damaged by his party.

It is the second time this year that the two parties got embroiled in claims.

In January, Makumbane received a court order, after Nekhwevha said he was threatened with death after being called to Makumbane’s kraal.

Nekhwevha, who was Makumbane’s petty-headman, was removed last month after he claimed chieftainship.

The spokesperson of the Nekhwevha family, Mpfariseni Maphwanya, said the issue was supposed to be resolved by the government but that was not the case. “The vandalising of our graves must be angering our ancestors as they are being made to pay for our claim to the chieftainship,” he said.