Cape Town - A right royal ruckus has erupted over the scheduled launch on Tuesday of the Griqua Royal Council Western Cape branch, with two members of the Griqua nation each claiming to be the rightful representative of the Griqua royal house.
The man behind the launch is the Northern Cape’s ZF Mgcawu District Municipality speaker Stanley Peterson, who sent out invitations and said he was launching the roll-out of the royal house under the auspices of the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act.
Peterson, who is also president of the Khoisan Revolution Party, said the act allows the opening of branches outside their territory and he was coming to Cape Town as there were members of the community in the Western Cape and across the country who would benefit.
However, Contralesa Deputy Secretary-General Aaron Messelaar, who is also head of administration of the Griqua Royal House, said: “We have no launch. Someone misled the media.”
Dismissing the launch as a “hoax”, Messelaar said the Griqua Royal House was a registered patented name and anyone using it without permission was engaging in fraud.
Peterson countered this and said Messelaar did not represent any of the five Griqua royal families which he named as Kok, Kraalshoek, Peterson, Berendse and Le Fleur.
Peterson said Contralesa had long been the mouthpiece of Nguni tribes while the national Khoisan Council, of which he is a member, spoke for the Khoi and San groups.
He said however he and Messelaar were members of the Griqua National Unity Forum which represents the five families and meets annually.
In August last year the Griqua Royal House, represented by Messelaar, hosted a cultural event at the Castle of Good Hope, in partnership with the Castle Control Board.
The event was held to commemorate the founding father of the Griqua people, Adam Kok I (1710 – 1795). At that event, attended by among others Freedom Front MPL Peter Marais and provincial ANC education spokesperson Khalid Sayed, the Griqua Royal House asked for political support in their bid for Darling Street in Cape Town to be renamed Adam Kok Street.
Tomorrow’s launch comes on the heels of the opening of the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders earlier this year, which in turn followed the promulgation of the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act in 2021.
The act gave recognition to traditional structures in the various Khoisan communities, the kings, queens and chiefs, and was widely welcomed and seen as an aid to transforming traditional and Khoi-San institutions in line with constitutional principles.
Supporters of the act said it would restore the integrity and legitimacy of traditional and Khoi-San leadership institutions in line with customary law and practices.
Peterson said tomorrow’s event would be a fundraising occasion, with the money raised going towards preserving Griqua identity, culture, tradition, history and heritage.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za