Lerala chief fumes at his boss
ONALENNA MODIKWA
Staff Writer
| Thursday January 24, 2008 00:00
He said the meddling has now caused rifts and tensions between him and the residents. Last Monday, the residents thronged the Lerala Kgotla for a meeting that Moroka claim he was not aware of. The chief said by the look of things, the meeting was convened by Ntebele. He said he did not know the agenda though he received a letter from Ntebele informing him that he will be addressing a meeting in Lerala.
Moroka said he was attending a meeting of Tswapong traditional leaders in Tumasera last Thursday when he received a letter from Ntebele about the Lerala meeting.
He said on Monday, Ntebele called to inform him that he could not make it because there was no transport. 'What surprised me was that there was no agenda in that letter. I began to suspect something because he could have informed me so that I dispatch a vehicle to fetch him. Ntebele has a tendency of calling individual people in their homes about meetings. The same thing happened last year.'
Moroka said while he was still consulting his headmen, people started to throng the Kgotla in preparation for the meeting and he did not know who had invited them. The chief said he was confused because procedurally he must be aware of any meeting held in his Kgotla. 'How come Ntebele convenes a meeting in my village without my consent? There was no consultation and what he did was an abuse of power.'
Moroka said he called the headmen to discuss the issue and asked them if they called any meeting but all said no. He said as he entered the Kgotla shelter to inform the gathering that there was no meeting, about 20 of them stood up in protest and carried their chairs to the open Kgotla.
'I then sent two headmen to go and inquire from them what could be the problem and call them into the shelter but they said the Kgotla is equally and rightfully theirs.'
At this point Moroka said he called Mauntlala Police officers but by the time they arrived, people had already dispersed from the Kgotla. He said local politicians were the ring leaders of the protest group.
'I want a case to be opened against them. Most of the witnesses have written statements about the unlawful gathering. I blame Ntebele for all this. His administration is wrong and he opposes anything that I do to enforce law and order in my village.'
He said he warned Ntebele over his habit of helping some people in Lerala to receive death claims from insurance companies and other institutions.
In reaction Ntebele dismissed all accusations levelled against him by Moroka. He said that he was supposed to attend the Lerala meeting with the Bamangwato Deputy Tribal Authority Tlholego Seretse. It was supposed to be an indoor meeting to try and bring Moroka and concerned village organisations that are unhappy with his leadership. Ntebele said the meeting was mainly intended to make peace in Lerala. He indicated that there are serious tensions as a result of allegations that Moroka is a tyrant. Ntebele said organizations that have expressed displeasure at Moroka's leadership are VDC, headmen and councillors.
'That was not supposed to be a Kgotla meeting and Seretse was the one who was supposed to mediate but it could not go on because he had gone to Mmadinare for the President's farewell while on the other hand, I had no transport.'
Ntebele said he called Moroka to tell him about this. But he is surprised that Moroka at some point called the police and wants to launch a case against some villagers.