The jailed king of Nelson Mandela's ethnic group was released on parole on Monday alongside more than 14,600 other prisoners granted "special remission of sentence" by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the justice ministry said.
Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, 55, is king of the AbaThembu, a Xhosa ethnic group that boasted Mandela as its most prominent clan member.
Incarcerated since 2015, Dalindyebo was serving a 12-year term at the East London Correctional Centre in the southwest of the country for arson, kidnap and assault.
"King Dalindyebo's sentence has been reduced by 12 months," the ministry of justice and correctional spokesman, Chrispin Phiri, told AFP.
"In addition to that, he had already qualified for parole as far back as October."