The Introduction of Local Government in Mtubatuba: A Threat to the Local Traditional Authorities?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55227/ijhess.v4i2.1002Keywords:
councillors, democracy, local government, municipal council, traditional leadershipAbstract
The events leading to the 1994 general elections marked a major turning point in the history of South Africa. The new dispensation saw the introduction of new legislation that would see traditional leaders ‘losing’ their powers to the newly established local government structures. The government’s White Paper on Local Government 1998 offered a new vision of a post-apartheid society, embodied in the concept of developmental local government. As a result, territories previously controlled by the traditional leaders would be divided into municipalities, each governed by an elected municipal council. This paper uses a combination of archival sources such as newspapers, minutes of the committee meetings and other written documentary and oral sources drawn from in-depth interviews with local leaders, traditional leaders, and local people from the area. It argues that the incorporation of remote traditional areas under the jurisdiction of traditional leaders in the newly formed municipalities threatened the powers of traditional leaders and complicated the jobs of newly elected councillors, as they were expected to go through izinduna for any project to be successfully launched. This was the case mainly in instances where a local traditional leader and a councillor belong to different political parties.
References
Booysen, S. (Ed.). (2012). Local elections in South Africa: Parties, People, Politics. Stellenbosch, South Africa: Sun Media Metro.
Buthelezi, F. (2018, June 29). [Personal communication].
Buthelezi, M., & Skosana, D. (2018). The salience of chiefs in post-apartheid South Africa. In J. L. Comaroff & J. Comaroff (Eds.), The politics of custom; chiefship, capital, and the state in contemporary Africa. Johannesburg, South Africa: Wits University Press.
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education (6th ed.). London, England: Routledge.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methods approaches (4th ed.). London, England: Sage Publications Inc.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. (2018). Research design: Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methods Approaches (5th ed.). London, England: Sage Publications Inc.
Department of Provincial and Local Government. (2003, July). White paper on traditional leadership and governance. Retrieved from https://www.cogta.gov.za
Harrison, E. R. (1989). Early memories of Matubatuba and district. Mtubatuba, South Africa: Zululander Printers and Publishers.
Injobo Nebandla. (2005). Freedom from Strife? An assessment of efforts to build peace in KwaZulu Natal. Violence and Transition Series. Johannesburg, South Africa: The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation. Retrieved from https://restorativejustice.org/rj-archive/freedom-from-strife-an-assessment-of-efforts-to-build-peace-in-kwazulu-natal/
Inkosi M. G. Buthelezi. (2000, December 03). Imbizo of the Zulu Nation. Retrieved from www.ifp.org.za/archives/documents
Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi. (2000, May 5). Remarks in the meeting of Amakhosi, Emandleni-Matleng. Retrieved from www.ifp.org/archives/documents
Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi. (2000, May 5). Speech delivered in the meeting of Amakhosi, Emandleni. Retrieved from www.ifp.org/archives/documents
Interviewee X. (2018, June 26). [Personal communication].
Lodico, M. G., Spaulding, D. T., & Voegtle, K. H. (2006). Methods in Educational Research: From Theory to Practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Mathe, S. (2018, June 25). [Personal communication].
Mthethwa, M. (2018, July 01). [Personal interview].
Mtubatuba Municipality. (2010-2011). KZN275 Mtubatuba annual report. Retrieved from www.mtubatuba.gov.za
Ntombela, M. A. (2018, July 01). [Personal interview].
Ntsebeza, L. (2005). Democracy compromised: Chiefs and the politics of the land in South Africa. Leiden, Brill.
Ntsebeza, L. (2004). Democratic decentralization and traditional authority: Dilemmas of land administration in rural South Africa. European Journal of Development Research, 16(1), 71–89.
Nustad, K. G., & Sundnes, F. (2013). The Nature of the Land: The Dukuduku Forest and the Mfolozi Flats, KwaZulu-Natal. The Modern Journal of African Studies, pp. 487–506.
Phakathi, M. (2019). Rethinking Political Violence in post-apartheid KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict Transformation, 8, 99-119.
Powell, D. (2012). Imperfect transition – Local Government Reform in South Africa 1994-2012. In S. Booysen (Ed.), Local Elections in South Africa: Parties, People, Politics (pp. 12 – 30). Stellenbosch, South Africa: Sun Media Metro.
Smiles, J. (2011). Floor Crossing in South Africa: A Controversial Democratic Process. Insight on Africa, 3(2), 159-175.
Taylor, R. (2002). Justice Denied: Political Violence in Kwazulu-Natal after 1994. African Affairs, 101(405), 473–508.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Patrick A. Nyathi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.