A former member of parliament and the traditional leader of residents of Tshimbupfe, under the Makhado Municipality, Khosi Vho-Vusani Netshimbupfe, was recently elected as the deputy chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders in Limpopo.

During a telephonic interview with Mirror this week, Netshimbupfe described his inclusion at the House of Traditional Leaders as crucial. He worked as a magistrate for 17 years in Thohoyandou, Vuwani and Tshitale as head of magistrate or officer in charge, and he was also appointed the chairperson of the initiation schools´ task team.

When the Multiparty Negotiations Forum (MPNF) took over the work of the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (Codesa) in February 1993, Khosi Netshimbupfe attended the negotiation process as the advisor of the then Transvaal Traditional Leaders.

When the transitional executive council (TEC) was established to regulate the period until elections in 1994, the office bearer of the Limpopo House of Traditional Leaders was elected as a councillor of the transitional government.

Netshimbupfe was ordained as Khosi of Tshimbupfe on December 20, 1991, and he later became an ANC member of parliament (MP) for five years. When he returned from the national parliament in 1999, he worked as a senior prosecutor in the Lowveld area of Mopani, based in Giyani, until 2001.

According to Musanda Vho-Netshimbupfe, one of their primary objectives as the House of Traditional Leaders is to counsel government on matters of traditional leadership, custom, heritage and language as the rightful custodians of all these values. "Unlike the previous regime which only worked with traditional leaders in a worsening the situation, I can openly say it that the present government is on the right track when they regard traditional leaders as custodians of moral values and the cultural and social system of the masses," he said.

He added that the House of Traditional Leaders is also advising the provincial government on the dispute and the levels of the chieftainship in the province. Recently, Netshimbupfe warned circumcisers not to circumcise boys under the age of 13, to avoid unnecessary deaths, as well as to ensure that prices at initiation schools was not more than R500. "It is good that the government is offering us chance to play our central role in improving the lives of our people," he said.

Netshimbupfe is the assistant of the provincial chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders in Limpopo, Khosi Vho-SF Makgeru.