MEKI v VHUSHANGWE & ORS 2010 (2) ZLR 237 (H)

Flynote

Customary law — chief - succession to chieftainship - collateral system of succession among Shona-speaking people - principles

Headnote

A chief is appointed by the President in terms of s 3 of the Chiefs and Headmen Act [Chapter 29:01]. In making such an appointment, the President must give due consideration to the customary principles of succession, if any, applicable to the community over which the chief is to preside. Whilst among the Ndebele, the chief (induna) is selected by a system of primogeniture in which, upon his death, the office is passed on to his eldest son, a more complicated one is adopted by the Shona-speaking people. The principle varies with each community. Their chiefs are chosen by a collateral system in which the position is passed from the head of one of the "special families" to that of another. Each of these families is known as an "imbahuru" or "royal family" and on the death of a chief (ishe or mambo) his successor is selected from the representatives of two, three or even four "royal" families in the clan. Thus, when a chief dies, his office passes on to the representative of the next family until each has had its turn, when the cycle is repeated. One variation is that younger brothers succeed to elder brothers until the succession has been held by each in turn, when it reverts to the son of the first chief and then to the sons of the collateral lines. Another variation is that the eldest son, regardless of the position or rank of his mother, succeeds to the personal name and position of his father. When he dies, his next youngest brother or half-brother succeeds to the father's name, until the generation of sons of the father is exhausted and the eldest grandson succeeds to the name and position of his grandfather, the determining factor again being the order of birth amongst collateral grandsons. It is the task of tribal elders, mostly belonging to the ruling clan, and of other important kinsmen, to determine which candidate has the best rights to become chief. In the event of serious rivalry recourse may be had to a svikiro (spirit medium) of an important ancestor to ascertain the views and wishes of the ancestral spirits.