Even though South Africa is a democratic republic, the country has a number of traditional leaders who serve various purposes in the country. The role of these leaders include that of providing an advisory role to the presidency as well as assisting communities particularly in rural areas.
According to Forbes:
“Mostly these monarchs wield little or no formal political power, but they fulfil spiritual and ceremonial obligations to members of their community.”
In rural areas, for instance, chiefs play a practical role in mediating disputes.
When the African National Congress (ANC) came into power in 1994, it sought to recognise the role of traditional leaders within a democratic landscape by providing assistance to the various monarchs in the form of salaries.
These salaries are paid for by taxpayers in South Africa.
According to recent statistics, taxpayers are paying in excess of R650 million a year towards the salaries of chiefs and other traditional leaders.
With over 5300 chiefs in South Africa, there isn’t enough information available in order to answer conclusively who the richest chief in South Africa is.
Approximately 20 million South Africans live in areas ruled by kings or traditional leaders.
According to Business Tech, kings are paid a salary of R1.03 million a year, whole traditional leaders get paid R188 424 a year. As of 2015, President Zuma determined that the salaries for the country’s more than 5000 chiefs should be standardised at R84 125 per year.
The majority of the country’s chiefs and traditional leaders are spread between KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, while the least number of traditional leaders can be found in Gauteng. To answer the question of who the richest chief in South Africa is, one would have to wait for the solving of the issue of the land disputes as well as remuneration issues from the government, in order to rectify some of the injustices of apartheid.