Former National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega and her husband Advocate Mocheodi Phiyega are embroiled in a dramatic succession battle over the appointment of a chief to take over the reins of the Pheeha Tribal Authority in Limpopo. The two are accused by acting chief Malekutu Benedict Pheeha of instigating and dividing the members of the royal family by instilling behaviors that were contrary to the tribe's customs and traditions during a meeting which was meant to confirm the late Chief Mahudu's son Mpelege as a permanent leader of the tribe. The Pheeha traditional leadership which is located few kilometers outside of Soekmekaar in Limpopo and presides over more than seven villages, has been without a permanent chief since 2012 when Chief Mahudu Pheeha died. 

HEIR TO THRONE TOO YOUNG TO LEAD

The community and the royal family have been led by regents, who were appointed by the royal council because at the time, the rightful chief, Mpelege Pheeha , the eldest son of the late Chief Mahudu was considered to be too young to take the throne. In his place, according to minutes of a meeting held by the Pheeha royal family dated 28 March 2012, his grandmother Tabana Matshawela Pheeha was initially appointed as regent on behalf of her grandson Mpelege. The minutes further shows that when Tabana Matshawela died in December 2011, the royal family convened another meeting where they took another decision to replace her with another candidate. According to the minutes of the said meeting dated 10 October 2016, acting Chief Malekutu Benedict Pheeha was appointed as regent, and the minutes clearly stated that he was taking the position on behalf of Mpelege, the rightful heir to the throne. But the acting chief who has served the community as a tribal leader from 2016 and whose term is about to expire end of this month, said Riah Phiyega and her husband Mocheodi were now manipulating members of the royal family to deviate from their resolutions of the two meetings, to implement its decision to install Mpelege as the new Chief of the Pheeha Royal family. 

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Malekutu said Mocheodi , the son of the late regent of the Pheeha traditional authority, only rejoined the royal family in 2012 after the death of Chief Mahudu, but said now he and the former police commissioner are 'poisoning' the ears of members of the royal family telling them that they were not obliged to appoint Mpelege as chief despite the minutes of the two meetings having agreed and the traditions and customs of the Pheeha family dictating so. Melekutu said Mocheodi told members of the royal council that anyone amongst them can be chosen as the chief of the Pheeha Royal Family. However, he said he disagreed with the statement, and reminded the council that it has taken a decision already that Mpelege (26) was going to be chosen as chief once he was of age to take over his late father's throne. But he said nobody listened to him and instead a new name was proposed during the meeting by Mocheodi?s grouping. Putting their proposal foward, Malekutu said Mocheodi told the royal council it was high time the tribe was led by an educated chief, something which he said he disagreed with as it was going against their traditions. However, despite the proposal, Malekutu said they ended up electing someone with a mere standard 2 to take over as Chief. He said Mpelege, the candidate they ignored has a university degree. ZiMoja understands that Mathias Pheeha was suggested, elected and appointed to the position of a chief. Mathias according to the acting chief, is the son of the late Chief Muhudu's second wife. Melekutu said the elected chief did not qualify to ascend the throne because he comes from the wrong house. He said Mpelege was the rightful leader of the tribe, because he was eldest son of the first wife of the late chief. 

Malekutu declared that he was not going to allow Mocheodi's plan to appoint another person to succeed, going as far as indicating that he would rather die than allow another candidate to take over the chieftaincy. "We are not going to fold our arms and allow them to change our traditions and customs. For the first time I have seen a Chief being voted for in my family, all because of Mocheodi. Just imagine. We are a democracy now in the Pheeha Royal Family and we elect Chiefs, they are no longer born," he said cautioning that people may die as result of the dispute over succession. 

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Malekutu Pheeha told ZiMoja that he has already had runs in with Mocheodi over the matter, stating that the advocate called urging him to stop turning the community against their decision to install a new chief. "I told him on the phone that he and his wife rather bring in another Marikana in our village, because I'm not going to allow him to hijack our royal family. He ended up dropping the phone because of what I said," said the acting Chief. ZiMoja can also reveal that Malekutu Pheeha also convened a community meeting with the subjects of the Pheeha traditional authority last week Wendesday wherein he introduced Mpelege to the community as their Chief. He allegedly told the community from all the 7 villages under Pheeha's authority including Thakgalane number 1 to 4, Itieleng, Setlhale and Guadplus, that the royal family was hijacked by some people who wanted to Rob Mpelege of his birth right and he urged them to fight for him. 

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Advocate Mocheodi responded with a media statement, in which he confirmed that the royal family had finally met, identified and appointed a Kgosi (Chief). "Dikgadi and Bakgoma of the Pheeha Royal council met on Saturday 7 October 2023 in order to finally deal with the issue of the identification and appointment of Kgosi. Mosata wa Pheeha has been without Kgosi since 2012 due to successive calamities that befell the family. It has been operating through the use of regents, on the 7th of October 2023, the Pheeha Royal Council met and appointed a person from amongst themselves to the position of Kgoshi. The appointment was supported overwhelmingly by Dikgadi and Bakgomana. The relevant authorities have been informed of the appointment. Preparations for the installation of Kgosi are at an advanced stage, "reads part of the statement by the royal family released by Mocheodi.