A storm is brewing within the royal circles of Limpopo’s Balobedu nation, as the Modjadji Royal Family launches a court challenge against President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recognition of 20-year-old Masalanabo Modjadji as the seventh Rain Queen.
Filed at the Pretoria High Court, the legal application aims to overturn the president’s December 2024 decision, which formally installed Masalanabo as Queen Modjadji VII under South Africa’s Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act. The challenge is being led by her uncle and former regent, Mpapatla Modjadji, who argues that Masalanabo lacks the traditional training required to assume the revered queenship.
At the heart of the dispute lies the centuries-old Rain Queen lineage—a mystical and matriarchal royal tradition central to the Balobedu people. Known for its association with rain-making powers and sacred rituals, the queenship holds profound cultural and spiritual significance.
Mpapatla claims in court documents that Masalanabo has not been properly initiated into the customs, taboos, or sacred practices of the royal house, particularly the “secrets of the rain medicine.” This, he argues, disqualifies her from fulfilling the sacred role passed down through generations of queens, including her late mother, Queen Makobo Modjadji VI, who died in 2005.
Masalanabo, who was raised outside the traditional royal kraal and educated in a more modern setting, has long been at the center of a succession debate that has divided the royal family for years. Her recognition by the state brought some clarity to the succession issue, but the legal challenge now reopens old wounds and could set a precedent for how traditional leadership is recognized in South Africa’s constitutional framework.
While no hearing date has been set, the case has drawn nationwide interest, highlighting the delicate balance between indigenous traditions and state authority in the recognition of traditional leaders. As the legal battle unfolds, it places one of South Africa’s most iconic royal institutions under the national spotlight once again.
