Court ruling halts Lim traditional leaders’ levy collections
The Constitutional Court has ruled that traditional leaders can no longer impose levies or taxes on communities.

LIMPOPO – Traditional leaders have expressed dissatisfaction with the recent Constitutional Court judgement that declared traditional councils which force communities to pay levies and taxes, such as contributions to royal events, annual taxes, or fees charged for proof of address letters and other activities, unconstitutional and invalid.
The matter, which was finally decided on December 20, 2024, began in 2011 when eleven community members from seven traditional authorities in Limpopo, including the Modjadji Traditional Council in the Mopani District, took the government and the Provincial House of Traditional Leaders to court over unfair taxes imposed by their respective traditional councils.
They claimed that traditional authorities were charging them exorbitant amounts of money and using coercion to force them to pay. According to a court document, “The levy amount varies widely from R20 to R150. Levies are imposed to raise money for a specific purpose, including in one instance for a new car for a chief.”
Some levies are also said to be imposed to access a common resource. These include levies to allocate a stand, allow the running of a business, or bury a family member. Fines are often imposed for the non-payment of levies.
The evidence in the court document also reveals that a common method of extracting payment from non-compliant community members included refusing to provide a proof of address letter or other letters required by the state.
However, that could be in the past now since the recent Constitutional judgment declared that Section 25 of the Limpopo Traditional Leadership and Institutions Act 6 of 2005 is inconsistent with the Constitution and, therefore, invalid, as only legislative bodies have the authority to raise and impose taxes on the general public.
This means that traditional leaders in the province may no longer impose taxes under customary law unless people voluntarily agree to pay. However, some traditional leaders argued that this ruling was a mistake, as it would deprive them of the limited resources needed to run their administrative offices.
“The judges erred in that ruling because traditional councils do not have budgets, while all other organs of state are allocated budgets annually,” argued Hosi Mahumani, who is also a former chief magistrate.
“How can you buy stationery, pay office cleaners, or manage administration in general without a budget?” he continued, adding that the judges failed to consider the impact this judgement would have.
He, however, admits that according to customary law, communities are allowed to take a resolution that binds them all. “The mistake, however, was that some traditional leaders were biting too much. But even then, it does not justify that all traditional leaders should be stripped of all powers to collect funds necessary to run their administrations,” he said.
Hosi Thomo also supported Hosi Mahumani that the move would cripple their ability to run their administrative offices. “We have policing forums that help us combat crime in our communities. You can’t expect those to volunteer all their lives without any form of encouragement,” he said.
Hosi Xigalo, on the other hand, said he could not comment before he saw the ruling and requested more time to study it.
However, despite the ruling, many people living in villages are still unaware of it and have not yet been informed by their respective traditional councils. “I just paid my annual fee for my stand yesterday; no one told me anything about any changes,” said Given Baloyi from Dzingidzingi village.
Meanwhile, the DA leader in Limpopo, Lindy Wilson, welcomed the Constitutional Court judgement and called on the government to publicise it to ensure that communities are aware of their rights. “We call upon the Limpopo provincial government to widely publicise this ruling to ensure that affected communities are made aware of their rights,” she said.