The Sovereign Congress of African Leaders (SCAL) closed out 2025 with a powerful end-of-year celebration of some of the region’s most impactful traditional leaders. SCAL is a strong emerging new leadership forum which represents royal traditional houses and leadership and seeks to help drive positive change in mostly rural communities suffering deep neglect. The milestone event took place at Akasia Community Hall, 120 Disotus Ave, Karen Park, Pretoria, 0118 on the 16th of December, included the first-ever Natural Indigenous Leaders Awards.
The awards form part of SCAL’s renewed mission to restore the dignity, authority and relevance of Africa’s royal and traditional leadership houses. Professor Thabo Mpyane, President of SCAL and a leading voice within Royal20 – a sub-structure which was formed to input into the recent G20 summit which took place in Johannesburg – says the awards are both a celebration and a call to action. “Our focus is on restoration,” he explained.
“We want to restore the dignity, recognition and integrity that have been taken away from our traditional leaders over time. The difficulties and suffering many of our community’s face is a direct result of this loss of influence.” According to Prof Mpyane, royal and traditional leaders hold a revered place in the hearts and minds of African peoples. “They are and will always remain the natural, permanent leaders of their people, and they are still deeply relevant in this modern age.”
