CLAIM: She (Chief Zanele Khumalo) joins two other female chiefs in Matabeleland.
SOURCE: The Chronicle
VERDICT: False
In an article headlined ’Chief Mabhikwa succession wrangle intensifies,’ the Chronicle of 25 March 2025 in the second from last paragraph claims that Zanele Khumalo, who was this month installed as Regent Chief Mabhikwa in Lupane, joins two other female chiefs in Matabeleland.
‘Zanele’s appointment marks a major milestone for gender representation in traditional leadership,’ reads the Chronicle story.
‘She joins two other female chiefs in Matabeleland.’
The newspaper identifies the two other chiefs as Chief Mvuthu (Silibaziso Mlotshwa) of Hwange and Chief Ndube (Nonhlanhla Sibanda) of Insiza. The story thus creates the impression that before Zanele’s installation, there were only two female chiefs in Matabeleland, and now there are three, including her.
In 2007, according to African Global Networks, Zimbabwe already had five female chiefs, three of them from Matabeleland and two from Mashonaland.
Those were Chief Sinqobile Mabhena of Umzingwane, Chief Ketso Mathe of Gwanda, and Chief Nonhlanhla Sibanda of Insiza, all from Matabeleland South Province. In Mashonaland East Province, there were Chiefs Charehwa and Chimukoko.
Chief Mvuthu of Hwange District in Matabeleland North was recommended to ascend to the throne after her 2020 victory in a protracted legal battle at the High Court, which sought to disqualify her from succeeding her father on the basis that she was female.
In July 2024, Adelaide Nleya (female) was installed as Chief Hikwa in Bulilima, Matabeleland South, bringing the number of female chiefs in Matabeleland at the time to five.
Resistance to female chiefs in Zimbabwe
Despite these six chiefs rising to the traditional leadership post, there is still cultural resistance to women occupying that position which has traditionally been a preserve for men.
In 2018, former president of the Chiefs’ Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira, stated that while Zimbabwe at the time had a total of 286 chiefs, only five were females.
Zanele Khumalo’s installation as regent is already being challenged by more than 30 Khumalo family members at the High Court, with some arguing that her appointment is against Ndebele culture, which has no provision for female chiefs.
This is not a new argument, Chiefs Mabhena and Mvuthu having faced the same challenges. Despite her father having picked her as his successor, Sinqobile Bahle Mabhena faced family opposition to her succeeding him.
At her installation ceremony in 1996, then Local Government Minister John Nkomo noted that the fact that she was a woman was irrelevant because the Nswazi people themselves, after thorough consultations, chose her to succeed her father.
However, more than twenty years later, women seeking to succeed their fathers or act as regents are still fighting the same battles.
In a legal battle in which Silibaziso Mlotshwa was being resisted by family members to ascend to the Mvuthu chieftaincy, the High Court in July 2020 nullified the nomination of Saunders Mlotshwa (her uncle) as substantive Chief Mvuthu of Hwange district, saying it was unlawful, null and void. The judge said it was unconstitutional to discriminate against Silibaziso based on her gender.
The judge ruled that the administrator was guilty of dereliction of duty under law by failing to uphold the Bill of Rights, and as a result, effectively excluding Silibaziso from the selection process of the Mvuthu chieftainship. The judge had some harsh words for the uncle, and ordered costs against him on a punitive scale, saying the uncle’s behaviour had been ‘that of a drowning man clutching at straws’.
What do the laws of Zimbabwe say about female chiefs?
The Constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees equality before the law and prohibits discrimination, ensuring equal opportunities for all, regardless of nationality, race, gender, or other characteristics in the Bill of rights. It also obligates the state to promote equality and protect disadvantaged groups. Section 3(1) (f) and (g) stipulates that Zimbabwe is founded on respect for recognition of the equality of all human beings and gender equality.
Section 56 of the Constitution on equality and non-discrimination reads in part as follows:
‘(1) All persons are equal before the law and have the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.
(2) Women and men have the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural, and social spheres.
(3) Every person has the right not to be treated in an unfairly discriminatory manner on such grounds as their nationality, race, colour, tribe, place of birth, ethnic or social origin, language, class, religious belief, political affiliation, opinion, custom, culture, sex, gender, marital status, age, pregnancy, disability or economic or social status, or whether they were born in or out of wedlock.’
On the other hand, the Traditional Leaders Act, the law governing operations of traditional leaders including chiefs, is silent on the gender of chiefs. Section 3, which deals with the appointment of chiefs, reads in part as follows:
(1) Subject to subsection (2), the President shall appoint chiefs to preside over communities inhabiting Communal Land and resettlement areas.
(2) In appointing a chief in terms of subsection (1), the President—
(a) shall give due consideration to— (i) the prevailing customary principles of succession, if any, applicable to the community over which the chief is to preside; and
(ii) the administrative needs of the communities in the area concerned in the interests of good governance; and (b) wherever practicable, shall appoint a person nominated by the appropriate persons in the community concerned in accordance with the principles referred to in subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a): Provided that, if the appropriate persons concerned fail to nominate a candidate for appointment as chief within two years after the office of chief became vacant, the Minister, in consultation with the appropriate persons, shall nominate a person for appointment as chief.’
Conclusion
The claim: ‘She (Zanele Khumalo) joins two other female chiefs in Matabeleland’ is false. Before Khumalo’s ascendancy to the Mabhikwa chieftaincy as regent, there were already other five female chiefs: Mathe (Gwanda), Ndube (Insiza), Mabhena (Umzingwane), Mvuthu (Hwange), and Hikwa (Bulilima). The correct position, therefore, is that Khumalo joins five other female chiefs in Matabeleland and not two, as reported by the Chronicle.
