Alleged extortion boss was not a traditional leader – King Dalindyebo

King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo

Cape Town — Following the death of alleged extortion boss Sakhumzi Mareke, AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has said that he did not recognise Mareke as an official traditional leader.

Mareke was killed in a shootout with police on Wednesday and had been a person of interest in several extortion cases in the province.

Although Mareke was considered the Mthatha West chief in the Eastern Cape, Dalindyebo accused him of masterminding widespread extortion of schools in the area, according to EWN.

Dalindyebo said a meeting was held to address alleged demands for “protection fees” from schools in and around Mthatha. However, Mareke dismissed these allegations, claiming the community was unaware of such activities.

According to TimesLIVE, Dalindyebo said he did not want to speak ill of the dead but said that Mareke’ was not a recognised traditional leader.

“He was never one, but an imposer. Referring to him as a traditional leader is misleading and is an insinuation that everyone can wake up and call himself a traditional leader,” Dalindyebo said in a letter.

Mareke had threatened to interdict Dalindyebo after the accusations made against him, for making “defamatory public statements”. He had said he was never involved in any acts of criminality, instead he was the one who fought crime.

Dalindyebo added that he did not want to rejoice in the death of anyone and sent his condolences to Mareke’s family.

“What we now have is a family in mourning which needs our prayers on the death of their child. It is not for us to judge,” he said.

According to Daily Sun, Dalindyebo’s spokesman, Prince Zanothando Mtirara, also said that Mareke was never a traditional leader in Mthatha West.

“All the criminal elements have been dealt with and will continue to be dealt with by law enforcement agencies. We call upon all other individuals masquerading as chiefs in the area, enabling their criminal enterprise of extortion, to immediately desist from such criminal behaviour,” he said.

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Compiled by Matthew Petersen

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