By Celani Sikhakhane
- Queen Nozidumo Mkhatshwa, Inkosi of the Mawewe Traditional Council, wants a pension fund for traditional leaders to enable peaceful retirement.
- She said a pension could let leaders retire at 70, reducing succession battles by allowing younger leaders to take over without conflict.
Queen Nozidumo Mkhatshwa, Inkosi of the Mawewe Traditional Council in Mpumalanga, believes a dedicated pension fund for traditional leaders could help them look after their families and reduce succession battles over the throne.
Mkhatshwa, who also sits on the executive committee of the National House of Traditional and Khoisan Leaders, raised the issue at the Mpumalanga Legislature in May. She said that in her lifetime, she has never seen a traditional leader receive a pension after serving the throne for decades.
“There are questions that have been asked before about how traditional leaders would get pension funds, because they serve on the throne until they die, they don’t retire. That is an issue traditional leaders will need to discuss. For example, at the age of 70, a traditional leader could receive a pension and retire peacefully, making way for a younger leader to take over without conflict,” Mkhatshwa said.
She said a pension would allow traditional leaders a peaceful retirement, while still voluntarily playing an advisory role to their successor and being able to look after their assets and families.
Traditional leaders across South Africa, particularly in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, have long pushed the government on salaries and pension benefits, wanting pay equal to that of public servants such as Members of Parliament.
In July, President Cyril Ramaphosa told Eastern Cape traditional leaders that the government is working on a phased plan to give all recognised traditional leaders “a decent salary, including medical aid benefit, and a decent pension fund,” introduced incrementally over time.
National Treasury has already adjusted the salaries of traditional leaders, with kings and queens now earning just over R1.4-million a year following a 4.1% increase.
Mkhatshwa’s Mawewe Traditional Council itself has family ties to the Zulu royal house, her daughter, Queen Sihle Mdluli, known as Queen Mawewe, recently married King Misuzulu kaZwelithini.
Pictured above: Queen Nozidumo Mkhatshwa, Inkosi of the Mawewe Traditional Council, calling for the establishment of a pension fund for traditional leaders.
Image source: Mawewe Royal House
