Traditional Leaders and the Culture of Governance in South Africa (original) (raw)
Related papers
Traditional Leadership and Governance in Contemporary South Africa
Anthropology, 2020
Traditional leaders in South Africa are self-sufficient to enhance the lives of their communities. The aim of the study was to highlight the work that traditional leaders have been performing before colonization, apartheid and in the new democracy. The collection of data was secondary using desktop research and literature from South African government legislation and academic journals. The key finding of the study was that government need traditional leaders to perform certain functions were public sector is unable execute. Traditional Leaders in South Africa are capable of uplifting lives of ordinary rural communities this was demonstrated clearly in the study
The Role and Future of Traditional Leaders in South Africa
Koers, 1999
Traditional authorities p lay an important role in South Africa. N ot everyone is, however, prep a red to recognise them as role players. In governm ent circles, on the one hand, a tendency exists to marginalise the role o f traditional leaders and, on the other hand, a White Paper process is under way to spell out the role o f traditional leaders in the fu tu re dispensation. Traditional authorities are seen by their com munities as leaders through and by the people. In som e instances it is even stated that they receive their authority fro m God. Research done in the Province o f the North West, the Northern Province a n d the Province o f KwaZulu-Natal illustrates that in many o f the communities in which traditional leaders serve they are regarded as leaders and they are also seen as sym bols o f unity in the community. The idea that the system o f traditional leadership m ay be abolished was met by fierce resistance. Traditional leaders are recognised in terms o f section 211 o f the 1996 Constitution. The Constitution also recognises the possibility that national a n d provincial legislation m ay provide a role fo r traditional leaders at national, provincial and local level. Some o f the find in g s o f the above-m entioned research program m e illustrate that traditional leaders were used as political tools in the past a n d that they should refrain fro m participating in p a rty politics. Findings also highlighted the fa c t that the fra g m en ted legislation dealing with the recognition a n d functions o f traditional leaders (caused by the apartheid system) should be rationalised. Som e confusion still exists as to the role o f traditional
Understanding the Resurgence of Traditional Authorities in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Journal of Southern African Studies, 2016
Drawing their power not from the ballot box but from a supposedly ancient wellspring of power, hereditary traditional authorities in postcolonial Africa have frequently posed challenges for incoming 'democratic' governments. The situation in post-apartheid South Africa is no different. However contentious their role under the colonial and apartheid systems of government was, the Constitution of the new South Africa (1996) recognised traditional authorities and afforded them opportunities for a political resurgence. This paper reviews the changing status of traditional authorities in the Eastern Cape Province over the twenty years since 1994. It explores the resurgence of the chiefs in relation to the consolidation of both democratic processes and of emergent, neo-patrimonial modes of government. It briefly considers the role of traditional authorities in three key and closely related spheres, namely the institution of the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders, the question of how gender is handled by and within traditional institutions, and the continuing challenges of land administration and development in rural areas. In all these spheres, and in the face of real opposition, the voice and influence traditional authorities have emerged stronger than ever. We conclude by suggesting that as they are drawn deeper into governance and have to play a formal role in addressing the myriad institutional challenges, new questions will and should be asked about the status and influence of traditional authorities, and their substantive contribution to democracy in South Africa.
The role of traditional authorities, particularly traditional leadership in the democratic South Africa (1994-2013) seems to be a complex and multifaceted process. When the African National Congress (ANC) came into power in May 1994, the party was faced with a mammoth task of incorporating traditional leaders in the local sphere of government. The study examines the socio-political role of traditional leaders in South Africa in post-apartheid period. Furthermore, the study aims at examining the factors and challenges contributing to the leadership discourse between the traditional leaders and some structures of the ANC, for example, the councillors as elected leaders. The findings from this study pointed to challenges such as values and perceptions of leadership styles as espoused by the traditional leaders versus the democratic way of leadership from the ANC structures. The above propelled the researchers to engage in an analytical research study of determining the relationship that existed between the traditional leaders and the local government structures in South Africa. On the basis of the findings of this study, recommendations are made for the fostering of harmonious working relationships between the traditional authorities and the councillors representing the ANC.
Local Government and Traditional Leadership in South Africa
There have been arguments whether traditional leadership is needed for rural development in democratic local governance. Arguments about traditional leadership in South Africa often result in the one whether customs based on traditional values are democratic. It is possible to lose the traditional value which has been historically produced in the society if the criterion to judge political meaning of traditional leadership is based on election. The influence which traditional leadership exercises has been recognized in rural areas. Therefore, the way of integrating and collaborating with traditional leadership is an urgent challenge for democratic South Africa.
2020
The role of traditional authorities (chiefs of various ranks) in Africa in the era of multi-party democracy remains unresolved. This issue was brought to the fore in Africa in the early 1990s, when multi-party democracy and decentralisation were imposed on regimes in Africa by the Bretton Woods institutions. Politicians who were engaged in election politics saw traditional authorities as important actors. They surmised that winning the support of these authorities would put them in a strong position to win the support of the 'subjects'. A question thus arises in contemporary politics on the role of such traditional authorities in a multi-party democracy, which is founded on the principle of elected leaders. Historically, the institution of traditional leadership has been comprised of members who are either hereditary or appointed. This gives rise to a tension between a leadership based on the democratic principles of representative government, and one comprised of unelected leaders. This dilemma confronts South Africa as well. At the dawn of democracy, the country adopted a constitution, that, in its Bill of Rights, enshrined leadership that would be based on the will of its citizens. However, the same constitution recognised an institution of traditional leadership whose incumbents are appointed without clarity as to how this relates to the democratic practices enshrined in the Bill of Rights. The aim of this paper is to discuss this tension arising from traditional leadership in a constitutional democracy. Its key argument is that recognising an institution of traditional leadership, based on unelected leaders, in a democracy in which the central principle is elected representation, and giving such an institution political and executive powers on land and natural resources undermines the democratic project. In the process of exploration, the paper highlights the complexities and intricacies associated with the role of traditional authorities in a multi-party democracy. The paper is informed by, and draws extensively from work I have been doing on democratisation in South Africa's countryside going back to the dawn of South Africa's democracy in 1994. My work on traditional leadership for the period up to 2004 has been consolidated in my PhD thesis, and my first book. This book, Democracy Compromised:
International Development Planning Review, 2004
Navigating tradition Traditional authorities and governance in eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa Strains on democratic governance in many parts of Africa have led to a resurgence of traditional authority. In South Africa, democratisation has been accompanied by moves to guarantee a role in governance development for traditional leaders, especially at the local level. Most often associated with the administration of rural areas and small towns, traditional authorities are only occasionally part of metropolitan governance. An exception (and the subject of this paper) is KwaZulu-Natal, where ubukhosi, the institution of chieftaincy, constitutes a political faultline running across the province. Straddling this faultline are the 15 amakhosi or chiefs who fall within the newly demarcated boundaries of eThekwini Municipality, which governs the metropolitan area of Greater Durban. On the basis of historical research and interviews with traditional leaders and city councillors working in traditional authority areas, the paper considers areas of tension and cooperation and the challenges for democratic consolidation and opportunities for development posed by the accommodation of traditional authorities in metropolitan governance. The end of the twentieth century saw development cooperation becoming increasingly concerned with democratisation and efficient government. Indeed, across much of Africa the neoliberal economic agenda of the international financial organisations was accompanied by exhortations for 'good governance', spurred by weak state delivery, bloated bureaucracies and, in many countries, the impact of ongoing conflict and warfare. Accompanying efforts towards institutional reform has been a spontaneous resurgence of tradition in sub-Saharan Africa. This has been identified, for example, in the increased currency of occult practices (Moore and Sanders, ), the surfacing of neo-traditional vigilante groups such as the Sungusungu in Tanzania (Heald, ) and the revitalisation of chieftaincy. In terms of governance, traditional mechanisms of accountability have been increasingly evoked just as the accountability of modern institutions became increasingly questioned. Following these trends, two broad viewpoints have prevailed: the first is that chieftaincy is integral to sub-Saharan Africa's problems, operating as a brake on democratisation; the second is that traditional authorities have a stabilising influence in conditions of social and political turmoil or stress.
One Chief, One Vote': The Revival of Traditional Authorities in Post-Apartheid South Africa
African Affairs, 1997
During the apartheid era, chiefs were maligned as puppets of bantustan rule. In ANC-related circles, it was widely assumed that chieftaincy would not survive in the post apartheid era. But the institution of traditional leadership has proved highly flexible. Rather than being phased out as relics of pre-modern times, chiefs are re-asserting themselves in the new South Mrica. Chiefs have survived throughout this century with a strategy of shifting alliances. Towards the end of the 1980s, chiefs were re-orienting themselves towards the ANC, rightly perceived as the new ruling party-in-waiting. Combining the resources of tradition with a discourse of liberation politics and development, they were able to explain constitutional and other legal guarantees for the position of traditional leaders and their representations in the local, provincial and national administration. For its part, the ANC had an interest in wooing chiefs to its side in order to prevent the emergence of a conservative alliance where traditional leaders could join forces with the bantustan elites. The article analyses these developments, discusses the main themes of debate and concludes with a brief case study of chieftaincy issues in the Northern Transvaal.