Traditional Leadership and The Constitution

c) Changing – for better or for worse

The institution of traditional leadership is considered an organ of state , which implies that they therefore have to comply with the Constitution. This entails that “certain customs will have to change and certain specific customary powers are now superseded or limited.” Yet, there seems to be a trend of throwing out the baby with the bathwater when we attempt to modernise customary law and traditional leadership. The recent laws that were introduced with regards to traditional leadership introduces a fair amount of stiffness, rather then allowing for the active development of traditional leadership. Two of these new laws that are at the centre of the government’s attempts to align traditional leadership with our new democratic values is the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act and the Communal Land Rights Act . These Acts remain a challenging predicament, as they do not allow or provide for the transformation of traditional leadership to serve the new democracy.

CHAPTER 6 – SECURING THE FUTURE

a) The future of Traditional Leadership and the responsibility of securing it

In accordance with the traditional way of life, people are custodians of traditions and customs. Historically, these customs were not written down, but passed down from generation to generation, by word of mouth and mostly incorporated in stories told by the elders. Traditional leaders have an enormous role to play in being custodians of these customs and traditions, as they play an important role in the lives of the members of their communities.

Even though traditional leadership has faced many challenges, almost certainly the most important and testing challenge they face, is their v...

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...all. You and I are but one among millions, and however humble we may be, we can make a contribution and an overall difference in Mother Africa, a place all of us call home.

I leave you with the wise words of Albert Einstein, which describes how we can, together, secure our rights through working together as a united nation.

“The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if

every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defence are the constitutional rights secure.”

Works Cited

The Final Constitution, Section 8(1) explicitly binds all organs of state

Bennett & Murray (supra) page 26-2

Act 23 of 2009

Act 11 of 2004

Bennett & Murray (supra) at page 26-65

Department of Public, Constitutional and International Law – UNISA – African Customary Law – Study Guide (2008)