Kgoshi ke kgoshi ka batho when translated conveys that chiefs are chiefs because of the people. Chieftainship was the ancient way of governance in Africa and particularly in Southern Africa.
Chieftainship was also considered the most common form of political structures in Southern Africa. Prior to the apartheid era chiefs and kings were very influential on the people in the Zulu, Pedi, Swazi, Ndebele, the Transkei tribes and other tribes in South Africa. In their political system chiefs and kings were seen as superior figures in the society and most individuals living in their clan had to follow orders conveyed by the chief and king. This essay will consider the role of chieftaincy in a democratic South Africa
Kincaid formula
The Kincaid Formula has been developed for Navy training manuals, that ranged in difficulty from 5.5 to 16.3. It is probably best applied to technical documents, because it is based on adult training manuals rather than school book text. Dialogs (often found in fictional texts) are usually a series of short sentences, which low- ers the score. On the other hand, scientific texts with many long scientific terms are rated higher, although they are not necessarily harder to read for people who are familiar with those terms.
Its important to note that Chiefs where not democratically elected into their roles. During the apartheid regime the ANC circle highly assumed that chieftaincy would not persist in the post apartheid era. How ever in the 1950’s sebatakgomo which was an organization cherished chiefly power. This proves that chiefly power was still influential during that period because many organizations respected chiefly power. However Chiefly power during early 1900’s was also exercised in gene...
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...s are of royal decent. Tribal elders still respect chieftaincy and state how they “were here to help and guide the chiefs”. In terms of constitutionality and chiefs, the chiefs do not have power to amend or reject legislation and can only serve as a purpose of advisory. This would therefore reduce chiefly power in a democratic South Africa .However it is important to consider that chiefs are extremely important because the interim constitution and the final constitution make provisions for traditional leaders.
In conclusion chieftaincy is very important especially considering that they exercise administration in the area. How ever certain bills must be created for the regulation of a chief’s conduct. It is also important to consider that many people still live in remote rural areas and they need guidance. I am therefore in favor of chieftaincy in democracy.
Queen Nzinga’s methodical rise to power was well justified and vindicative of her ensuing rule, contrary to the arguments of her opponents. As the daughter of a previous king and sister to the next heir to the throne, Nzinga had the correct hereditary history to rule, an important prerequisite for rule in Ndongo culture. To reinforce this, Nzinga held an election, in which qualified officials appointed her as queen (Thornton 37). She was not the first queen to take uimate power over Ndongo (although none were as influential as she), but her traditional minded critics refused to accept it, and considered it a sign of illegitimate rule (Thornton 37). To combat this, Nzinga expanded her gender identity and strived to be more “manly” by engaging in battles personally (Thornton 39). It also helped that she was deemed i...
Brain Z. Tamanaha (1988). The Role of Custom and Traditional Leaders Under the Yap Constitution” University of Hawaii Law Review, vol. 10 (1988), pp. 81-104.
An interesting point to be made is that according to Dubois, before the colonization and influence of Westerners and their ways of thinking, the Apache had no single leader. Dubois states that, “The Mescalero word for leader is glossed he who speaks” (Dubois). This shows that there wasn’t anyone who was appointed to a position, but instead it was whoever had the greatest contribution and input. It is said that groups of the Navajo would only choose a leader who never came out as wanting to be a leader, and a person who was actually apprehensive about it. They believed that if you “campaigned” for a leadership role, you were least deserving of it. It was the ones who never self proclaimed themselves to be a leader; they were the ones who were placed in the
Failure to resist the consuetude of tyranny was seen in the apartheid regime that was allowed to rise in South Africa, “with its explicit policy promoting white supremacy” (Cooper 2002, 1). As a result of this establishment, non white Africans were forced to live separate and in poor conditions for years by the all white government. This yet again encumbered any chance for augmentation of self and society for the African people. While the rest of the world was creating mass transit and health care systems, Africa was being held down, it’s potential to develop as a state of power and influence,
Invictus is a biographical film based on the book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation. The inspirational true story of the film revolves around Nelson Mandela’s efforts and strategy to unite the South African society that is torn apart by apartheid through multiple approaches. Upon being elected as the first black President of the nation amidst severe opposition from whites, Mandela is faced an overwhelming challenge to reconcile the nation and build a democracy in a country free of racism. In this paper, I am going to analyze both Nelson Mandela’s leadership style as well as Francois Pienaar’s leadership style.
Readability of text: The grade level I chose is fifth, and the material comes from McGraw-Hill’s Reading Wonders. “The Boy Who Invented TV” by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Greg Couch is the text I used to apply Fry’s Readability Formula. The Lexile Text Complexity Range is set at 860 and the Text Evaluator is at 38 for this particular story. “The Boy Who Invented TV” was an appropriate biography for fifth grade, however I was surprised to use the Fry’s Readability Formula and find that it was actually graphed at an upper seventh grade level. After doing this readability I have a newfound understanding as to why students, especially lower level, can really struggle with the text found in their books. It is much more evident that after reading
Morris, Donald R. The Washing of the Spears: The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation Simon & Schuster Inc. © 1965
In 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected to the highest office of the land. Faced with issues like an economic crisis and racial tensions, Mandela inherited a difficult set of problems. While Mandela’s new position had allocated legitimate power, “influence that is created through a title or status”, due to the severity of the issues, Mandela needed new means of acquiring power, “the ability to influence how others behave,” to garnish unified support throughout the country (P. 329). Mandela understood that to achieve this he would have to adopt various techniques to provide leadership, “a process of influence aimed at directing behavior toward the accomplishment of objectives” (P.326).
My father existed under the illusion, formed as much by a strange innate pride as by a blindness to everything but his own will, that someday all white people would disappear from South Africa and black people would revert to their old ways. To prepare for this eventuality, he ruled the house strictly according to tribal law, tolerating no deviance, particularly from his children. At the same time that he was force-feeding us tribalism we were learning other ways of life, modern ways, from mingling with children whose parents had shed their tribal cloth and embraced Western culture. (31-32)
One of the main themes that emerges from reading Alan Paton's, Cry, the Beloved Country, is the importance of tribal life to South Africa because of the identity it gave its people. Through the communal life of the tribe, the structure of stability and morality of the tribe, South Africa's people had a sense of accountability for their own doings, a responsibility towards other and pride in the unity of their people. Tribal life began to break up, however, with the coming of the mines as the youth set off towards Johannesburg and became lost in the crowds and the city. These youths lost their sense of tribal pride, their responsibility towards others and a feeling of accountability for their actions. As a result, many turned to a life of crime and immorality, destroying families and ignoring hundreds of years of tribal structure, ultimately turning their backs on the unity of tribal life that had long kept South Africa together.
The Ending of White Minority Rule in South Africa Apartheid was a major historical event, and perhaps the biggest event. in South Africa’s history. Apartheid is a policy of racial segregation, the word meaning ‘separateness’ in Afrikaans. It was introduced in 1948 by the white minority and made sure that the whites were superior in every possible way. However, the whites ruled over.
National identity can be explained as a group of people belonging to the same nation no matter what their culture or religion is. They share a common national anthem, language, history, laws and government. Segregation and discrimination have been problems rooted in South African history for a long period. There is a diversity of cultures and languages and therefore tension is high among the various groups. In 1994, the African National Congress was elected. Along with this National Congress came the notion to achieve a uni...
In Africa, the interests of various individuals and groups have transformed the possession of power into nightmarish dimensions due to the flaws in the political structures of the societies. Although some of these degenerative weaknesses have been explained by historical experiences, there still remains the fact that the progressive development of any society depends on a conscious pruning of flawsin the organizational structure of the society by those with the power to provide guidance and direction. Moreover, this burden of leadership could elicit either patriotic parasitic tendencies in the utilization and exercise of power. (Ehling 23-25)
Dr. Alex Borraine once said, “ I still believe that goodness and beauty, compassion and new beginnings, can triumph over the evil which seems to be all-persuasive.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu is an incredibly controversial man, with this being said his speech at Stellenbosch in August 2011 made headlines around the world. His speech was about the fact that the white population, being the beneficiaries of the apartheid system, should pay a “wealth tax”. This caused heavy debate within our country and therefore the main topic that will be addressed in this essay. Specific reference will be made to transformative constitutionalism and whether this “wealth tax” would be constitutional within our country.
Old South Africa is best described by Mark Uhlig, “The seeds of such violent conflict in South Africa were sown more than 300 years ago, with the first meetings of white settlers and indigenous black tribes in an unequal relationship that was destined one day to become unsustainable” (116).