What's King Dalindyebo smoking?

In a last-ditch attempt to evade justice, jailed abaThembu king Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, a self-proclaimed dagga smoker, has asked the Constitutional Court to allow traditional leaders to run their own sovereign territories.

The disgraced king's latest application, labelled as "wacky" by one constitutional law expert, has been filed on an urgent basis.

Among other "bizarre" pleas, the 52-year-old royal wants Constitutional Court judges to develop customary law that will recognise him, the abaThembu nation and its territory as sovereign and not subject to the country's laws.

He also wants his transgressions, for which he is serving a 12-year sentence, to be treated under customary law - meaning his sentence would be nullified.

"The king expressly waivers his right to 'recognition as a person' and expressly waivers the benefit of incarceration and expressly dissents to the subject-matter-jurisdiction by which the rulings were made," said his self-proclaimed secretary Karl Lang.

"The king may have erred in his defence [in] that he neither understands legalese nor the foreign procedures of the court of South Africa. The king's freedoms and rights cannot be taken away without his consent," said Lang.

Lang said Dalindyebo had been denied justice by being subject to laws that should not apply to him. He would petition international tribunals if denied by the court.

"Roman-Dutch law was retributive and foreign, as opposed to African indigenous justice, which addresses the victim's rights."

If the Constitutional Court grants Dalindyebo's wish, the country's map will be greatly altered. The dagga-smoking king believes his lands consist of wide swathes, including most of Eastern Cape and the land where Mthatha stands.

But constitutional law expert professor Warren Freedman of the University of KwaZulu-Natal said Dalindyebo was unlikely to succeed: "There are parts of it that I think are completely bizarre. From a legal perspective there are many, many strange, almost crazy, things said in those papers."

In a letter to President Jacob Zuma, filed with the papers, Dalindyebo claims:

• He, the abaThembu people and their territory are sovereign;
• He never consented to the unlawful incarceration of his body;
• As a traditional leader, he should be treated differently to everybody before the law; and
• He does not recognise the corporation registered as [the] Republic of South Africa or its administrative and executive officers that function as a foreign jurisdiction.

Dalindyebo said since 1994 South Africa had not developed customary law and had recognised its independent jurisdiction and standing.

"The justices of the Constitutional Court are hereby invited to stand by their solemn vow to 'be faithful to the Republic of South Africa' and to 'uphold and protect the constitution and the human rights entrenched in it' as in this case."

Dalindyebo's letter was in response to Zuma's withdrawal of his certificate of recognition as a king following his 2009 criminal conviction and eventual incarceration in December last year.

The conviction relates to incidents between 1995 and 1996 at Tyhalarha village, where Dalindyebo torched three properties belonging to local men, kidnapped the wife and children of one, and assaulted two boys who had been accused of rape. He instructed that a third boy be assaulted; he died of his injuries.

Freedman said what Dalindyebo was asking for would bring back the apartheid homeland system.

"It is completely unlikely that the Constitutional Court will develop customary law in the way they want. I would say that they are clutching at straws and it's not realistic legal argument . I see no hope of success in this," he said .

Dalindyebo previously approached the Constitutional Court to have his conviction and sentence set aside, but his bid failed. Following this, the abaThembu royal family petitioned Zuma to withdraw his recognition as king in January. Daludumo Mtirara, spokesman for the royal family, said the council had removed him as king by custom and was in the process of appointing an individual to act in his place. He distanced the royal family from the application.

"The royal family of Ngangelizwe and Dlomo have nothing to do with this Lang."

Dalindyebo's incarceration saw him lose his benefits, including his official vehicle and petrol card, and his salary of just over R1-million.

The government, Minister of Justice Michael Masutha, National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete and chairperson of the National Council of Provinces Thandi Modise are listed as respondents in the matter.