Tribal Government at the Crossroads

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Periodical article

Title:	Tribal Government at the Crossroads
Author:	Bekker, J.C.
Year:	1991
Periodical:	Africa Insight
Volume:	21
Issue:	2
Pages:	126-132
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	traditional rulers constitutional reform Politics and Government Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Abstract:	The object of this article is to discuss the position of chiefs and tribal authorities in the process of constitutional change in South Africa. Chiefs and tribes, albeit to a certain extent colonial creations, are nevertheless present realities. They and the structures built on them will have to be taken into account in any debate about the constitutional future of South Africa. The article deals with the legal foundations of tribally based constitutional structures in South Africa, the failure of tribal authorities as administrative organs and as members of legislative assemblies, the judicial functions of chiefs, and the tribal (ethnic) basis of pluralism. Chiefs still enjoy substantial support in rural areas. The article ends, therefore, with a discussion of whether or not they should continue to play a role in administrative organs, in rural development projects, in a legislative assembly, and in the exercise of civil and criminal jurisdiction. Ref.