AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo and the family of controversial Mthatha West community leader Sakhumzi Dalinzolo Mareke, who was killed in a shootout with police on September 4 2024, have smoked a peace pipe.
Dalindyebo in August 2024 traded insults with Mareke and disputed that Mareke was a traditional leader and Mthatha West headman.
Hardly a month after the king publicly accused Mareke of being the mastermind behind the rampant extortion of schools in the area — including at Laphumikhwezi Primary School in Mandela Park and Efata School for the Deaf and Blind — Mareke died in the shootout.
Mareke had threatened to interdict the king from interfering in the “traditional affairs” of Mandela Park and from making “defamatory public statements”.
But, on Thursday, the Mareke family, through their attorney Kwanele Ncengesi and AbaThembu kingdom royal spokesperson Siphelele Mtirara, said all that was behind them.
Ncengesi and Mtirara stressed that the recent meeting with the king was solicited by the Mareke family.After many attempts to secure an audience with the king, without success, he had been roped in to facilitate it.
Mareke’s younger brother, Sicelo, accompanied by his mother MamTshawe, and Ncengesi, had an opportunity to disassociate himself from what he referred to as false rumours.
“He had been talking to various people denying all the allegations, but people do not want to hear a word. “They only believe the false rumours mischievously spread by faceless people,” Ncengesi said.
“Sicelo decided to humble himself and approached the king.
“He wanted to ensure his allegiance to the king and assure him that he has no ambitions whatsoever of any traditional leadership position, as he is not from any royal blood.
“Sicelo said his late brother was a self-proclaimed traditional leader.
“Even as a family, they don’t know how and why he was installed as a traditional leader,” Ncengesi said.
Sicelo requested the king to convene a meeting in Mthatha West.
Mtirara said the king was still considering the request by Sicelo to convene a meeting.
“The king has nothing against the Mareke family — they have smoked a peace pipe.
“The king was only addressing the criminality and misrepresentation by Sakhumzi, who had claimed to be a traditional leader.”
Daily Dispatch
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