ANC MP Mathole Motshekga has asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to recognize Princess Masalanabo Modjadji as the rightful heir of the Balobedu throne.
Modjadji recently celebrated her 18th birthday and there have been squabbles related to her ascendancy.
Masalanabo’s guardian Motshekga told Sowetan that they had written to Ramaphosa requesting him to recognise Masalanabo as the rightful heir to the throne instead of her brother Lekukela, who has been announced as the next king by the Modjadji Royal Council.
Modjadji’s birthday attracted a lot of prominent people.
Among those who were in attendance are revered business woman Bridgette Motsepe-Radebe.
“We have written to President Ramaphosa to recognise Princess Masalanabo because now she has turned 18 and is ready to resume her birthright position. It was the government that appointed her uncle Mpapatla Modjadji as a regent because she was still a minor. Now that she has come of age, she should assume her responsibility,” said Motshekga.
Motshekga added that she was yet to get a response from the president but she was very hopeful that the president would recognize her.
But the squabbles within the Bolabedu nation have been something to ponder as some factions have refused to accept her as their leader.
Masalanabo has been raised by the Motshekgas in Gauteng following the death of her mother, Queen Makobo Modjadji VI, in 2005. The royal house has always held a view that Masalanabo was not raised according to the tribe’s traditions and rituals.