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

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.