By Farai D Hove | 26 May 2025
VICTORIA FALLS – In a landmark development for gender equality in traditional leadership, 29-year-old Silibaziso Mlotshwa has been appointed as the substantive Chief Mvuthu of Hwange District, making her the sixth female chief in Zimbabwe.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa made the appointment in terms of Section 283(a)(i) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, read together with Sections 3(1) and (2) of the Traditional Leaders Act (Chapter 29:17). The appointment is effective from 16 May 2025, according to an official letter from the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.
“We are pleased to inform you that His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, has… appointed Silibaziso Mlotshwa as substantive Chief Mvuthu,” reads the ministry’s communication to the provincial authorities in Matabeleland North. The letter directs the relevant office to inform Ms Mlotshwa, begin payment of her allowances, and arrange for her official installation.
Her appointment ends a decade-long chieftaincy succession dispute that began after the death of her father, Chief Nyangayezizwe Mlotshwa, in March 2014. In the intervening years, Acting Chief duties were held by Headman Bishop Matata Sibanda, as tensions mounted over cultural norms and legal rights.
While some family members initially resisted Ms Mlotshwa’s bid for the throne—arguing that Nguni customs barred women from assuming chieftaincy—her persistence paid off. She successfully challenged the 2014 nomination of her uncle, Mr Sanders Mlotshwa, in the High Court. The court nullified his appointment and ordered a fresh process that aligned with Zimbabwe’s constitutional commitments to gender equality.
The long-running dispute attracted national attention, prompting the Chiefs Council in 2020 to send a three-member delegation to mediate. Their assessment led to a recommendation from the Matabeleland North Provincial Chiefs Assembly in favour of Ms Mlotshwa.
Ms Mlotshwa now joins an elite but growing group of female traditional leaders in Zimbabwe, including:
• Chief Mabhikwa Zanele Khumalo (Regent, Lupane District)
• Chief Ndube (Insiza District)
• Chief Mathe (Gwanda District)
• Chief Hikwa (Bulilima District)
• Chief Mabhena (Umzingwane District)
Her official installation is expected in the coming weeks, ushering in a new era for the Mvuthu chieftaincy which governs a significant stretch of communities near Victoria Falls.
The development is being hailed by gender rights activists as a major victory in the fight to dismantle patriarchal norms entrenched in Zimbabwe’s traditional leadership structures.