The Role and Significance of Traditional Leadership in South African Local Governance

2022 ◽  
pp. 249-273
Author(s):  
Joshua Mawere ◽  
Pfarelo Eve Matshidze ◽  
Stewart Lee Kugara ◽  
Thanyani Madzivhandila
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
The West ◽  
Rural South ◽  
The People ◽  
Traditional Leadership ◽  
Rural South Africa

Traditional leadership in South Africa pre-existed both the colonial and apartheid systems of governance and was the main known system of governance amongst indigenous people. In any case, as opposed to the current political pattern of discrediting traditional leadership, Africans have their own comprehension of democracy, which is pointedly from the liberal democracy of the West. Traditional leadership was democratic based on its own unique way in what we these days allude to as ‘consensus'. This chapter contends that the institution of traditional leadership is still significant as a trusted institution for governance by most of the people living in rural South Africa. The chapter contends as revered in the Basotho aphorism, mooa khotla ha a tsekisoe maxim, that traditional leadership is a sine qua non in rural areas. The South African post-apartheid government has neglected to conclusively characterize and unambiguously explain the role and significance of traditional leaders in local governance.

The question of inclusion and representation in rural South Africa: challenging the concept of water user associations as a vehicle for transformation

Water Policy ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Kemerink ◽  
L. E. Méndez ◽  
R. Ahlers ◽  
P. Wester ◽  
P. van der Zaag
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Water User Associations ◽  
Water User ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Reform Processes ◽  
Rural South Africa

The promotion of local governance and the transfer of water management responsibilities to water user associations (WUAs) have been central in water reform processes throughout the world, including in the reforms that took place in post-apartheid South Africa. This paper reflects on the notions of inclusion and representation as put forward by the various actors involved in the establishment of a WUA in a tertiary catchment in the Thukela River Basin. The paper describes how the WUA in the study catchment came to be dominated by commercial farmers, despite the South African government's aim to redress the inequities of the past by the inclusion and representation of historically disadvantaged individuals. The authors argue that the notions of inclusion and representation as embedded in the concept of the WUA are highly contested and more aligned with the institutional settings familiar to the commercial farmers. The paper concludes that, unless the inherently political nature of the participatory process is recognized and the different institutional settings become part of the negotiation process of the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of progressive collaboration at catchment level, the establishment of the WUA in the study catchment will not contribute to achieving the envisioned transformation.

scholarly journals Cultural implications for learners’ effectiveness as governors of schools in rural South Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Vangeli Wiseman Gamede
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
School Governance ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Learner Participation ◽  
High Level ◽  
South African Schools Act ◽  
Rural South Africa

The South African Schools Act, 84 of 1996, articulates the establishment of School Governing Bodies, which authorises stakeholders such as parents, educators and learners to participate actively in decision-making processes pertaining to school governance. The Act further stipulates that learners, through the Representative Council of Learners, should be afforded full opportunity to participate in crucial decisions by the broader governing body. The reason for undertaking the study reported on here was triggered by the concern raised by various authors about the high level of ineffectiveness of learners as governors of schools in South Africa. This study explored and analysed the significance of culture in relation to learners’ effectiveness as governors of schools in rural South Africa. A qualitative research approach, based on a purposive sampling method and interviews, was espoused by engaging members of the Representative Council of Learners in certain selected high schools of the Harry Gwala district in KwaZulu-Natal. The findings of the empirical study investigation divulged that culture was one of the main impediments to learners’ effective school governance in the rural South African setting. The study recommends the intervention of the Department of Education, with the view of creating an environment conducive to active learner participation in school governance in rural areas.

scholarly journals Cognitive Function and Impairment in Older, Rural South African Adults: Evidence from “Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in Rural South Africa”

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 32-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay C. Kobayashi ◽  
Farrah J. Mateen ◽  
Livia Montana ◽  
Ryan G. Wagner ◽  
Kathleen Kahn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
South African ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Rural South Africa

scholarly journals Book Review: Andrew Faull and Sindiso Mnisi Weeks

2018 ◽  
pp. 55-60
Author(s):  
Bill (William) Dixon
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Human Security ◽  
Police Work ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Cultural Contradictions ◽  
Rural South Africa

Review of: Andrew Faull, Police Work and Identity: A South African Ethnography, Abingdon, Routledge, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-138-23329-4 Sindiso Mnisi Weeks, Access to Justice and Human Security: Cultural Contradictions in Rural South Africa, Abingdon, Routledge, 2018 ISBN: 978-1-138-57860-9

The Paradox of (De)politicisation in a Selected South African Municipality: An Afrocentric Ethical Reflection

Politeia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kgothatso B. Shai
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
African Culture ◽  
Government Administration ◽  
Traditional Leadership

South Africa’s local government administration is complex in that both traditional leadership and elected municipal councils play a role in it. Traditional leadership occupies an essential position and status in local government administration, in particular in rural South Africa. However, the contemporary administrative jurisdiction of municipalities cuts across both rural and urban areas. In the rural areas, the conflict over the division of roles between traditional leaders and elected councillors is evident. Due to the influence and dominance of the neo-liberal global order, modernists often accuse traditional leadership of being undemocratic and authoritarian. However, the reality is that elected councils’ administration also leaves much to be desired, and the consequences of their poor administration are not uniformly understood. Since South Africa is a democratic state, it is expected that there should be a clear separation in government institutions between party (i.e., the ruling African National Congress) politics and public administration; a phenomenon that some describe as depoliticisation. Nevertheless, the realities on the ground suggest otherwise. This article, which is based on the theory of Afrocentricity, examines a selected rural municipality (Maruleng) in South Africa’s Limpopo province to critically reflect on the ethics and the value system of African culture in the context of local governance vis-à-vis Westernised governance principles. The aim of this research is achieved through interdisciplinary critical discourse and thematic analysis in its broadest form.

scholarly journals WOMEN AS DIVINERS AND AS CHRISTIAN CONVERTS IN RURAL SOUTH AFRICA, c. 1880–1963

2016 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-389
Author(s):  
SEAN REDDING
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Spiritual Beliefs ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Cultural Mediators ◽  
Christian Families ◽  
African Families ◽  
Rural South Africa

AbstractThis article argues that rural South African women's importance as spiritual actors in the period from the late nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries stemmed from their ability to embrace hybrid spiritual identities that corresponded closely to the lived reality of African rural life, and that by embracing those identities, women expanded their roles as social healers. Professing a belief in Christianity did not prevent individuals from practicing as diviners, nor did it prevent Christians from consulting diviners to determine the causes of death or misfortune. Similarly, young women who converted to Christianity often maintained close ties to non-Christian families and bridged spiritual lives on the mission stations with life in their families. Over this time period, women became cultural mediators who borrowed, adopted, and combined spiritual beliefs to provide more complete answers to problems faced by rural African families in South Africa.

scholarly journals Gendered Perceptions of Sexual Behaviour in Rural South Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Ndinda ◽  
U. O. Uzodike ◽  
C. Chimbwete ◽  
M. T. M. Mgeyane
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sexual Behaviour ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Rural People ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Rural South Africa

This paper discusses sexual behaviour findings collected through eleven homogenous focus group discussions conducted among women and men in a predominantly Zulu population in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The objective of this paper is to shed light on sexual behaviour in a rural community. The findings suggest that sex is a taboo subject and the discussion around it is concealed in the use of polite language, euphemisms, and gestures. There are gender and generational dimensions to the discussion of sex. The contribution of this paper lies in the identification of what rural people discuss about sex and the influence of cultural practices and urban or global forces on sexual behaviour in rural areas. The paper adds to the growing body of literature on the use of focus groups in understanding sexual behaviour in rural contexts.

scholarly journals Tourism and poverty in rural South Africa: A revisit

2020 ◽  
Vol 116 (1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daan Toerien
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Rural South ◽  
Population Sizes ◽  
Hospitality Sector ◽  
Tourism And Hospitality ◽  
The Impact ◽  
New Geography ◽  
Rural South Africa

Debates about the value of pro-poor tourism indicated a need to revisit the links between the dynamics of tourism and hospitality enterprises and community poverty in rural South African towns. The numbers of tourism and hospitality enterprises in these towns are related to population numbers by a power law with a sub-linear exponent. The residents of smaller South African towns are more dependent on the tourism and hospitality sector than are the residents of larger towns. Measurement of the enterprise dependency indices (EDIs) of these towns provides a valid measurement of their wealth/poverty states. Their EDIs are directly and negatively associated with the strength of their tourism and hospitality sectors. Communities in towns with more tourist and hospitality enterprises are overall wealthier, and vice versa. This finding contrasts with a previous view about tourism and poverty reduction in South Africa. Debates about the benefits of pro-poor tourism should include information about the impact of tourism on community wealth/poverty. The EDI is a simple, yet powerful, measure to provide poverty information. Expressing the number of tourism and hospitality enterprises per 1000 residents of towns enables comparisons of towns of different population sizes. Based on ideas of the ‘new geography of jobs’, it is clear that tourism is part of what is called the traded sector and results in inflows of external money into local economies. Tourism is a driver of prosperity and a reducer of poverty in South African towns.

Millin, Sarah Gertrude (1888–1968)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Turner
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Literary History ◽  
Rural South ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
International Reputation ◽  
Northern Cape ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Successful Author ◽  
Rural South Africa

Born of Lithuanian Jewish parentage, author Sarah Gertrude Millin grew up amongst the diamond diggings in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Beginning with The Dark River (1919), Millin published seventeen novels in a career spanning five decades. The publication of God’s Step-Children (1924) cemented her international reputation. The South Africa of Millin’s novels is represented with a stark and pessimistic realism. Her fiction depicts both urban and rural South Africa, and her work embodies many of the opinions of her English-speaking, white, middle-class, South African contemporaries. While Millin was a prolific and popular writer during her lifetime, posthumously her reputation has suffered because of the recurrent themes of racial purity and abhorrence of miscegenation in her writings. J. M. Coetzee’s 1980 article on the author has had a particularly significant role in the establishment of (still scant) scholarly criticism on Millin. Millin’s oeuvre also includes two autobiographies, a six-volume diary, and copious non-fictional works on South African concerns. Of these, her biography of diamond magnate Cecil Rhodes (1933) was particularly acclaimed. As a successful author in her own era, acquainted with many of the modernist writers of the time, Millin is both a significant figure in South African women’s literary history and a representative of racist colonial ideologies.

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