Tshivhulana Royal Family v Nditsheni Norman Netshivhulana

The Tshivhulana Royal Family applied to the Limpopo Local Division of the High Court, Thohoyandou, under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000 (PAJA) to review and set aside the decision of the Premier of Limpopo recognising Nditsheni Norman Netshivhulana as the traditional headman of the Tshivhulana settlement. The applicant sought substitution of that decision with the recognition of Davhana Elias Mulaudzi, relying on section 12(1)(b) of the Limpopo Traditional Leadership and Institutions Act 6 of 2005. The respondent raised two preliminary objections: failure to join an interested party and failure to exhaust internal remedies provided for in section 21 of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act 41 of 2003. The High Court rejected the non-joinder point but upheld the internal-remedies point and dismissed the application. The Supreme Court of Appeal refused leave to appeal. The matter came before the Constitutional Court on an application for leave to appeal.

Not available – the judgment text does not disclose the final order or whether leave to appeal was granted or refused by the Constitutional Court.

The case is potentially significant for clarifying the relationship between PAJA and statutory internal dispute-resolution mechanisms in the context of traditional leadership, particularly whether section 21 of the Framework Act constitutes a mandatory internal remedy that must be exhausted before judicial review. However, the provided text does not contain the Court’s final pronouncement.