Institution Of Traditional Leadership Research Articles

A Critical Review of the Roles and Functions of Traditional Leaders

The epitome of pre-colonial African history and culture is embedded within the institution of traditional leadership. Yet, this institution is still mired by much controversy and the cloud of being seen as not fitting the principles of democracy, while needing to remain relevant to its subjects. Having survived both the colonial and apartheid eras in South Africa, it still faces legislative control in the post-1994 era. The discourses presented in this paper advance the contested views regarding the legislative control by the state over the institution of traditional leadership. Within rural areas, the institution is perceived by local citizens as independent and a valuable institution, upholding gender justice and cultural rights. Providing focused attention on the abuse of women, this paper offers insights from empirical evidence in KwaZulu-Natal on the prominent role played by senior women traditional leaders in addressing women abuse in rural communities.

Perceptions of South Africans on traditional leadership: a case of Limpopo Province

ABSTRACT The institution of traditional leadership was recognized by the constitution of the Republic of South Africa. The debate about its relevance has been going on even before South Africa gained independence. The study investigated the perceptions of South Africans on the institution of traditional leadership. This study adopted qualitative and quantitative designs using literature review and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) to obtain secondary and primary data respectively. The study has shown that even at the time when others opposed its existence, it enjoys support from the rural people. It has also shown that this institution should co-exist formally with the elected government to complement the latter in policy implementation to speed up service delivery. It finally showed that this institution is still relevant in the African politics. Therefore, the constitution should be amended to allow this institution to operate side by side with the elected government. This will enable them to take their needs to the municipal council for tabling and decisions as they are popular to existing councillors. This mechanism of decentralisation has to be implemented if the elected government is to survive.

The Changing Identity on Succession to Chieftaincy in the Institution of Traditional Leadership: Mphephu v Mphephu-Ramabulana (948/17) [2019] ZASCA 58

The institution of traditional leadership has from time immemorial been central to traditional authority in the system of customary law. After the dawn of democracy in 1994, the role was fundamentally entrenched in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. The entrenchment would seem to entail the development of a new set of norms and a new ethos in customary law in line with the ideals of the new democracy, and the modification of certain aspects of the system. Of great significance for the transformation of the system is the promotion of the right to gender equality with reference to women's succession to the throne. Various commentators argue for this as an attempt to transform the culture of domination entrenched in a patriarchal system that always undermined the rights of women.
 Against this background, this article undertakes a comparative analysis of the recent judgments of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Mphephu v Mphephu-Ramabulana 2019 7 BCLR 862 (SCA) and Ludidi v Ludidi 2018 4 All SA 1 (SCA) to determine whether the succession of women to the throne is evidence of the desired transformation of the institution of traditional leadership. The article argues that these judgments have initiated a transformation which has the potential to destroy the identity of the institution of traditional leadership by paving the way for the nomination of women to occupy not just any leadership position in the chieftaincy but the throne itself. It also argues that the interpretation of the right to gender equality through the lens of common law instead of in its own context, which has a communal focus, compromises the transformative or developmental agenda of the institution of traditional leadership as envisaged in the Constitution. The discussion is limited to succession to the "throne" and is not applicable to other leadership positions such as occur in matrilineal systems, or regency and other such traditional leadership roles. This is also not a comparative study that considers other jurisdictions, is further limited to the concept of "gender discrimination", and does not deal with the other technicalities that were raised in these cases.

The Institution of Traditional Leadership and Local Governance in Zimbabwe

This article describes how traditional leaders play important developmental, administrative and political roles in rural areas, despite modern state structures. They regulate rural life, control access to land, and settle various disputes. They are respected leaders in their communities. The existence of traditional leaders means that both the decentralisation and the strengthening of local governance are not taking place in a vacuum. Documentary sources such as the Constitution of Zimbabwe; the Traditional Leaders Act (2000) and Chiefs and Headmen Act (1982); newspapers and unpublished non-governmental organisations (NGOs) evaluations and reports were used in this article. Traditional leaders have played a pivotal role in ensuring that the ZANU-PF government remains in power since 1980. In principle, traditional leaders should not be drawn into party politics and their role should remain one of the neutral leadership. If the traditional leader assumes a party-political role, one should appoint a substitute to handle their traditional role to avoid a conflict of interest.

The role and significance of traditional leadership in the governance of modern democratic South Africa

ABSTRACTThe institution of traditional leadership in Africa pre-existed both the colonial and apartheid systems and was the only known system of governance among indigenous people. However, contrary to the current political trend of discrediting traditional leadership, Africans have their own understanding of democracy, which is sharply from the liberal democracy of the west. The institution of traditional rulership was democratic in its own unique way in what we nowadays refer to as ‘consensus’. This article argues that the institution of traditional/indigenous leadership is still relevant as a trusted institution for governance by the majority of people living in rural South Africa. The Basotho adage: mooa khotla ha a tsekisoe is the maxim in which my argument – that traditional rulership is a sine qua non in rural areas – is grounded. The South African democratic government has failed to decisively define and unambiguously clarify the role of traditional leadership in government. The article aims to demonstrate government’s strategy of rendering the institution of traditional leadership obsolete and thus erasing it from South African political landscape. The debate on the role of traditional leadership is mainly founded on two diverse viewpoints: traditionalism and modernism; these viewpoints will form part of this paper. In this paper, I will refer to the legal or political framework of South Africa on the institution of traditional leadership.

Tradisionele Leiers: Erkenning en die Pad Vorentoe

There has for many years been legal recognition of Traditional Leaders in South African laws, such as the Black Administration Act 38 of 1927 and regulations and proclamations issued in terms of other legislation. Recently legal recognition was confirmed in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 108 of 1996. 
 Additional recognition of Traditional Leaders and the institution of Traditional Leadership is found in the various provincial legislation providing for Provincial Houses of Traditional Leaders and the establishment and functioning of the National Council of Traditional Leaders. 
 Yet the institution of Traditional Leadership has over the past few years given rise to much controversy. There are those who argue that the institution is outdated and others who regard Traditional Leaders as custodians of customary values and the only leaders who are truly responsible for the well being of communities historically and religiously entrusted to them. 
 Traditional leaders fulfil a variety of functions in rural society, including that of presiding officer in customary courts, mediator of disputes, advisor in agricultural and family matters, guardian of young, old, infirm and abandoned. They perform legislative, executive and judicial functions according to the wish of the majority of the members of the tribe. 
 It became apparent, that de facto Traditional Authorities are the only existing form of local government in rural areas in South Africa. It seems unlikely that, in the foreseeable future, it will be financially, politically or practically possible to replace this form of rural government with a comprehensive and sustainable alternative. 
 The future role of Traditional Leadership in the development process is significant in that in addition to the recognition afforded by the Constitution and other legislation, the development law, unfolding in modern day South Africa under a new
 development paradigm, distinctly provides for Traditional Leaders to play a significant role in rural development and development planning at local government level in rural areas. 
 The role and function of the Traditional Leaders of South Africa in the rural development process unfolds as the Integrated planning process comes into operation as envisaged in section 10 of the Local Government Transition Act 209 of 1993 read with the .principles contained in the Development Facilitation Act 67 of 1995. 
 The development principles and the regulations prescribing the process of formulating land development objectives, provides for an inclusive process in which all role players and stakeholders are to be involved. In practice this means that communities, community organizations and institutions, as concerned role players in civil society, are also the concerned and key role players in the development planning and development process at local level. No plan and development strategy will therefore meet the prescribed legal requirements of acceptable development planning standards, if the rural communities and their leaders are not directly and actively involved. 
 Much of the confusion and conflict between Traditional Leadership and Customary Law Councilors on the one hand and elected Local Government Councilors on the other, arose as a result of a misunderstanding of the valuable support role which Traditional Leaders can play in the development process. The difference in the nature and scope of the tasks of elected and traditional community leaders provide a rich multi-facet basis on which a successful local governance system can be developed within the context of the current constitutional-legal framework in South Africa. 
 In many other countries in Africa it was only realized after repeated failures of rural development experiments, that Traditional Leaders and Traditional Authorities constitute a most valuable asset in the rural development process. 

History versus customary law: Commission on Traditional Leadership: Disputes and Claims

This article examines the practices of the Commission on Traditional Leadership: Disputes and Claims, set up under the Framework Act of 2003 to ‘cleanse’ the institution of traditional leadership by ridding it of the illegitimate traditional leaders installed during the colonial and homeland eras. Close analysis of the Commission’s hearings and determinations with regard to kingship claims by the Western Mpondo and Mpumalanga Ndebele shows that the Commission violated not only the historical past but even the limited constraints of binding legislation, in order to impose its own preferences in the name of custom. The experience of the Commission therefore highlights one of the most fundamental deficiencies in the Framework Act, namely insisting on the guiding role of ‘custom’ while failing to define the meaning of the term and its implications.

History versus customary law: Commission on Traditional Leadership: Disputes and Claims

This article examines the practices of the Commission on Traditional Leadership: Disputes and Claims, set up under the Framework Act of 2003 to ‘cleanse’ the institution of traditional leadership by ridding it of the illegitimate traditional leaders installed during the colonial and homeland eras. Close analysis of the Commission’s hearings and determinations with regard to kingship claims by the Western Mpondo and Mpumalanga Ndebele shows that the Commission violated not only the historical past but even the limitedconstraints of binding legislation, in order to impose its own preferences in the name of custom. The experience of the Commission therefore highlights one of the most fundamental deficiencies in the Framework Act, namely insisting on the guiding role of ‘custom’ while failing to define the meaning of the term and its implications.

History versus customary law: Commission on Traditional Leadership: Disputes and Claims

This article examines the practices of the Commission on Traditional Leadership: Disputes and Claims, set up under the Framework Act of 2003 to ‘cleanse’ the institution of traditional leadership by ridding it of the illegitimate traditional leaders installed during the colonial and homeland eras. Close analysis of the Commission’s hearings and determinations with regard to kingship claims by the Western Mpondo and Mpumalanga Ndebele shows that the Commission violated not only the historical past but even the limited constraints of binding legislation, in order to impose its own preferences in the name of custom. The experience of the Commission therefore highlights one of the most fundamental deficiencies in the Framework Act, namely insisting on the guiding role of ‘custom’ while failing to define the meaning of the term and its implications.

Reflections on the rejection of the right to sexual orientation by the institution of traditional leadership: Lessons from South Africa

The submission made by the National House of Traditional Leaders to the Constitutional Review Committee for the removal of sexual orientation from the protection accorded to it in section 9(3) of the 1996 Constitution has sparked debate on the regulation of traditional authority by the institution of traditional leadership in accordance with the foundational values of the new constitutional dispensation. The debate is, amongst others, related to the impact of the submission on the rights of couples in same-sex relationships within the framework of the traditional system of governance. It further raises questions as to the effect of traditional values, such as Ubuntu, in the protection of these rights under the system of traditional authority. Ubuntu is proclaimed as an overarching African philosophy which encapsulates the collective respect for all rights for all people without distinction.

Analysis of the relevance of traditional leaders and the evolution of traditional leadership in Zimbabwe: A case study of amaNdebele

This article analyses the Ndebele institution of traditional leadership in contemporary Zimbabwe. It traces the pre-colonial Ndebele traditional leadership in order to establish the changes that have occurred as well as their causes. The article highlights the importance of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), especially in leadership which is highly controversial in Africa. Traditional leadership is the indigenous way of leadership which can, in a good way, influence contemporary governance for the benefit of the people. The article takes an Afrocentric approach with a clear understanding of the dynamism in culture. It then proceeds to reveal the problems (and their causes) within the traditional leadership institution in contemporary Zimbabwe. Finally, the article recommends solutions to the problems.

The ANC And Traditional Authorities In Historical Perspective

The topic of traditional leaders and their role has always been of great interest not only to anthropologists but also to politicians, the youth, missionaries, business entrepreneurs and government bureaucrats. Policy development that forms part of the government' outputs are influenced by many factors which includes historical facts, political ideologies, cultural differences and sometimes leadership. This article deals with some of these determinants. These give us a better picture as we attempt to outline the existing conflict between the African National Congress (herein referred to as ANC) and the ongoing political battle with the indigenous traditional system of governance in the form of traditional leadership. As a point of departure the author briefly outlines the position of the Constitution regarding traditional leaders in the democratic dispensation of South Africa. I conclude that the ANC's position is ambivalent. It is this ambiguity that contributes to an unclear policy formulation when it comes to defining the role and status of traditional leaders within the local government structures. The article also discusses what the ANC regards as the weaknesses of the traditional leadership and thus arrives at the conclusion that the institution of traditional leadership is by nature an undemocratic entity that must be abolished. The alleged undemocratic practices also include the exclusion of women as traditional leaders. The author argues that the institution of traditional leadership can and must be democratised and therefore be sustained for the benefit of development in rural areas. Keywords: Traditional leadership, political ideology, indigenous traditional system of governance, historical perspective.Indilinga Vol. 7 (1) 2008: pp. 87-102

Chief Albert Luthuli and the Bantustan Question

Within the African National Congress (ANC), various political personalities claim to be the ideological heirs of Luthuli. However, the debates over Luthuli’s legacy also transcend personalities and political parties to influence broader philosophical debates. The politicisation of culture over the last decade has dramatically altered the context in which “traditional leadership” is viewed. Luthuli stands on the fault line of any debate concerning Zulu nationalism or traditional leadership because Luthuli was an anomaly: a democratically elected, local traditional leader of international stature. As such, he is claimed both by traditionalists and modernists. An example of the former, Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa, President of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa, invoked Luthuli’s legacy to criticise the ANC’s continued faltering “on the question of traditional leadership”, arguing that ubukhosi (the institution of traditional leadership) “is here to stay”. There are obvious historiographical dangers in such claim-making. Holomisa’s statements could be perceived as a claim that Luthuli was a traditionalist who envisioned a retrograde action to Shakan and Shepstonian times rather than a modern democrat who struggled for a contemporary and progressive South Africa that was free from racial and ethnic divisions. Buthelezi’s repeated claims that Luthuli supported his leadership of the KwaZulu homeland government can be interpreted as an assertion that Luthuli believed that Apartheid could be fought by collaborating with or participating within white supremacist structures. In the context of this claim-making, how can we determine Luthuli’s position on traditional leadership and the bantustans under apartheid? In my view, a more accurate understanding of Luthuli’s political thought comes with recognising that his Christian faith influenced all other ingredients. More specifically, I would argue that it was Luthuli’s specific brand of Christian faith – Congregationalism – that represented values of egalitarianism, democracy, and unity, and determined his political philosophy – values which are antithetical to a world of ethnic bantustans. My starting point for investigating Luthuli’s relationship to traditional leadership is the eulogy Buthelezi delivered at Mthyiane’s funeral. This investigation relies on primary sources to document Luthuli’s views on the homelands framework. These sources reveal Luthuli’s views on chieftaincy, democracy, multiracialism, and available modes of resistance against the Apartheid regime.

Are the powers of traditional leaders in South Africa compatible with women’s equal rights?: Three conceptual arguments

This paper is about conflicts of rights, and the particularly difficult challenges that such conflicts present when they entail women’s equality and claims of cultural recognition. South Africa since 1994 has presented a series of challenging—but by no means unique—circumstances many of which entail conflicting claims of rights. The central aim of this paper is, to make sense of the idea that the institution of traditional leadership can be sustained—and indeed given new, more concrete powers—in a democracy; and to explore the implications that this has for women’s equality and equal human rights. This is a particularly pertinent question in the South African context, and I think it is worth reiterating from the outset that there is a distinct impression that women’s equality is always “up for grabs” when other, perhaps more powerful interests, come into play, in a way that would be unacceptable for other aspects of identity, and therefore signifiers of equality. It would be inconceivable, for example, to countenance a claim for a hierarchical racial arrangement in a given community, no matter how deeply culturally entrenched that arrangement was, and regardless of how much support it (ostensibly) had from the community concerned. I think therefore that we are obliged to ask difficult questions about the new legislation on traditional leadership, and to put it under the microscope of political theory in assessing the claim that this is one way of recognizing people’s rights and freedoms in a new democracy.

Succession to traditional Venda leadership in a changing constitutional environment in South Africa

The conflict and ambivalence in the legislative transformation in South Africa, recognising on the one hand the institution of traditional leadership and its concomitant customs and values, and on the other hand enforcing the fundamental value of gender equality entrenched in the South African Constitution, Act 108 of 1996 are debated in this paper. A succession dispute among the Venda of Masia is used to show how untenable the application of the gender equality principle in the Constitution and in Act 4 of 2000 (The Promotion of Equality and the Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act) is as regards succession to traditional leadership in this tribe. The claim to the position of traditional leader of a senior female member of the Royal Council of Masia was refuted by the Council. During a special Royal Council meeting convened to discuss the succession dispute in the royal house of Masia and related issues, senior members of the Council emphasised the fact that the recognition of traditional leadership and customary law and the right to culture, embodied in the Constitution, endorse their views and their decision that succession to the position of traditional leader among the Masia is patrilineal (in the male line of descent), with the result that only males are eligible to succeed to the position of traditional leader. A breach of these rules may still today lead to the intervention of the ancestor spirits who, as custodians of tradition and the customs of the tribe, expect the Royal Council to honour the rules.

A Comparative Study of Igala and Igbo Culture and Communication Systems in Ata Igala Coronation and Ofala Festival, 2013

The culture and communication systems of the Igala nation of Kogi State and the Igbo nation of Eastern Nigeria were comparatively studied using the coronation of Ata Igala at Idah, Kogi State between 5 and 10 March; and the Ofala Festival at Onitsha, Anambra State between 7 and 13 October, both in 2013. The concern of the study was to among other things identify the aspects of the cultures of the two neigbouring ethnic nationalities that were similar and how the similarities could be better harnessed towards the attainment of cultural unity and national development in Nigeria. I adopted particpant observation as an instrument of ethnographic design of fact finding, hence, my physical presence at both ceremonies. Pictoral description was also adopted to bring home points. It was found that the Igala and Igbo communities had common cultural practices manifesting in names of objects, cultural ideologies, seasonal celebrations and the institution of traditional leadership. It was observed that the existing cultural harmony could be properly harnessed into creating a forum for cultural unity among different groups in Nigeria to foster unity and national development. The paper therefore recommended among others that modern media of mass communication should do more in terms of the promotion of African culture through transmission of Africa-oriented programmes to champion the cause of development on the continent.Key Words: Ata Igala, Obi Onitsha, African culture, African communication systems, coronation, Ofala festival