Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

Traditional leader threatened with firearm, AfriForum demands answers

Soundbite: Barend Uys (English)

Soundbite: Barend Uys (Afrikaans)

AfriForum is demanding answers from an acting director of traditional affairs within the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (KZN-COGTA) following action taken against two traditional leaders of the Mpungose Traditional Community near Nkandla. In an urgent letter to Thami Biyela, AfriForum requested, among others, that specific information regarding charges against the traditional leaders be provided, and confirmation that Induna Mahaye and Ndunankulu Mpungose have not been suspended.

This follows an incident in which Ndunankulu Mpungose was threatened with a firearm at the traditional council offices, as well as the spread of rumours within the Mpungose Traditional Community that the traditional leaders have been suspended – despite the leaders themselves having no knowledge of this. Two suspects were arrested in connection with pointing the firearm at Mpungose on 21 January. However, they were released on bail of R2 500 each on Monday, 26 January 2026.

In April 2025, Induna Mahaye and Ndunankulu Mpungose received letters from KZN-COGTA outlining vague allegations against them. B.D. Ndwandwe and Associates responded to the letters on behalf of the traditional leaders at the time. No reply was received and the leaders believed the matter had thereby been resolved. However, to their shock, action against the leaders resurfaced with a call from Biyela on Sunday, 25 January. In 2025, AfriForum wrote to Premier Thami Ntuli regarding alleged unlawful action against izinduna.

According to Barend Uys, Head of Intercultural Relations and Cooperation at AfriForum, it is clear that serious procedural and confidentiality breaches are taking place within KZN-COGTA, and that unreasonable and unlawful administrative steps are being taken against the leaders. “The continued unreasonable and unjust actions of the department are clearly putting the lives of these traditional leaders at risk. It is difficult to understand such conduct from a department in a province that is suffering from a scourge of killings of amakhosi (senior traditional leaders) and izinduna (headmen) in particular. One is extremely concerned that unscrupulous political agendas are at play here that not only threaten the lives of these traditional leaders but also community stability and prosperity in general.”

AfriForum has a long-standing good relationship with the Mpungose Traditional Community, and specifically with the community of Nkungumathe. This relationship was established when AfriForum assisted Inkosi Mpungose and the community to obtain a court order for Kuba Secondary School to be built in the community as undertaken by the Provincial Department of Education.