Contralesa denies pressure on the President to pardon King Dalindyebo
Updated | By Nokukhanya Mntambo
Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) has denied that it threatened President Cyril Ramaphosa to release King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, or risk losing votes ahead of the May 8 polls.
Pressure is mounting on the President to pardon King Dalindyebo, after Ramaphosa received a recommendation from Justice Minister Michael Masutha.
Traditional groups have condemned Dalindyebo's imprisonment, saying the King cannot be held to the same laws as others.
The AbaThembu King is serving a 12 year prison sentence on several charges, including kidnapping, assault, arson and defeating the ends of justice.
It is alleged that earlier this month, Ramaphosa was given an ultimatum by three traditional rulers from the Eastern Cape to release King Dalindyebo from prison or lose critical votes in the region on election day.
"Well, Contralesa does not manage and contribute in the management of the national question by making threats to other stakeholders. We engage constructively, we engage progressively and we engage robustly. We are not making threats to anyone, we are engaging the ANC leadership as a ruling party, we are engaging the government and we are saying that through logic we must convince each other on what needs to be done in certain circumstances," says Contralesa's General Secretary, Zolani Mkiva.
"To us as an organisation, this issue is not related to the elections whatsover and people must not associate it because we started making this clareon call to release the King in 2016, where were the elections then?"
Ramaphosa is yet to study the recommendations and communicate his decision to the King.
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