Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo

Who is Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo?

Buyelekhaya Zwelinbanzi Dalindyebo a Sabata, praise name Zwelibanzi, is a king of the abaThembu in South Africa. He is the son of the previous king, Sabata Jonguhlanga Dalindyebo, a descendant of the amaHala dynasty, and ruler of the current bakwaDalindyebo lineage. In May 2005, he was indicted for fraud, murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and arson at the Mthatha High Court, and is currently appealing against a 15-year jail sentence. The charges stemmed from violence against his subjects in a small village near Mthatha between 1995 and 1996. In December 2009, Buyelekhaya threatened to secede from South Africa, and take two-thirds of the country's land with him. The secession bid apparently came after President Jacob Zuma refused to intervene in the king's litigations.