The ongoing battle for the VhaVenda kingship is expected to resume on Monday in the Polokwane High Court in Limpopo.

Princess Masindi Mphephu is challenging her uncle and erstwhile king, Toni Mphephu Ramabulana for the throne. The legal Marathon, that began in 2012, saw former president’s decision to declare Mphephu Ramabulana as king reversed by the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2019.

Over  the past 13 years, the VhaVenda kingship battle has seen dozens of witness testify in court, including cultural experts, members of Mphephu Ramabulana Royal Family and historians.

The case generated much fanfare when Prince  Ramabulana was called upon to present his testimony in court in April this year, when the former king reiterated that he was the rightful heir to the throne as he was born of his father’s second most senior wife.

The court previously heard that Ramabulana assumed the throne following the death of his half brother and Princess Masindi’s father, Tshimangadzo Dimbanyika Mphephu.

Former Vhavenda king Toni Mphephu Ramabulana appeared this week at the Polokwane High Court to testify in the ongoing kingship battle brought by his niece, Princess Masindi Ramabulana.

Dr. Nthambeleni Netshisaulu, a customary law expert from the University of Venda, and… pic.twitter.com/AZ4CCtMy10

— SABC News (@SABCNews) April 5, 2025

“I repeat, I succeeded my brother Tshimangadzo Dimbanyika because I am the family’s second most senior. I am from the house that came directly after the Dzekiso house,” says Ramabulana.

During his cross-examination, Mphephu Ramabulana also insisted that Princess Masindi Mphephu was never chosen by the royal family to succeed her father.

“Coming to Masindi, she had to be identified by the royal family, by the main khadzi, but the meeting that was held to identify the king did not choose her,” he insists.

In her testimony in January 2025, Princess Masindi told the court that the current selection of an heir to the throne was based on gender discrimination. An expert on the origins and customs of VhaVenda people is expected to testify on Monday.