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[1]        At the heart of this application lies a claim for the official recognition and reinstatement of the kingship of AmaMpondomise[1], a traditional community whose members reside in the main in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

[2]        The applicant is amongst those AmaMpondomise who hold competing claims for recognition as king.  In the founding affidavit he describes himself as “the senior Chief of AmaMpondomise”.  The fifth respondent in this application describes himself as “a great grandson of the AmaMpondomise King Dosini Royal Family”, which is the sixth respondent herein.

[3]        The first to the fourth respondents, being the President of the Republic of South Africa, the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Commission for Traditional Leaders respectively, were all cited nomine officio by the applicant in these proceedings.  The fifth and the sixth respondents were not cited as parties.  At the hearing of the application they presented themselves at court armed with a substantive application for joinder as parties.