Book Review - Democracy Compromised – Chiefs and the Politics of Land in South Africa

Book Review: Democracy Compromised – Chiefs and the Politics of Land in South AfricaNtsebeza uses the area of Xhalanga in the Transkei region of the Eastern Cape as the case study for his book. Through in-depth interviews, life histories, archival material, policy and legal documents and newspaper and NGO reports, the history of Xhalanga and its relationship with traditional authorities is recreated in fascinating detail.In this particular district, chieftainship was contested right from its establishment in 1865. And it is, as Ntsebeza points out, still challenged to this day. This aversion springs from the time when the colonial administration sought to use chiefs and headmen as intermediaries, through to the apartheid years, when these same figures were used to control people living in the so-called Bantustans. Xhalanga is, in many ways, a model of many such areas throughout the country. So too is its history of resistance to traditional authorities, ranging from peaceful demonstrations to violent protests.At the same time, Ntsebeza points out that the example of Xhalanga is a lot more than a simple illustration. It raises crucial questions about the role of traditional authorities in a democracy, not only in South Africa, but on the African continent.This is a central theme that runs though Democracy Compromised. The book was written at the same time that the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework and Communal Land Right Acts of 2003 were passed in the South African parliament. These acts effectively resuscitate the powers that traditional authorities enjoyed under the notorious Bantu Authorities Act of 1951, established by the apartheid regime. They allow for the recognition of Traditional Councils, which will have the power to administer and allocate land in rural areas. These councils are made up of a majority of un-elected and unaccountable members comprising traditional authorities and their appointees.Ntsebeza argues that implementing these laws will amount to imposing chiefs on an unwilling population. How, he asks, can one uphold the Constitution and the democratic principles in the Bill of Rights, whilst providing a position for un-elected and unaccountable traditional authorities?Ntsebeza presents rare and original insight into a complex issue, providing value for academics and researchers as much as policy makers and activists. Ultimately, he advocates a new form of democracy for South Africa in which the participatory elements of pre-colonial indigenous institutions and the representative aspects of liberal democracy are combined. As things stand, however, he argues that the citizenship rights of rural people under traditional authorities will continue to be partial. He offers pertinent commentary which policy makers would do well to consider.Engaging, outspoken, meticulously researched and accessibly presented, Lungisile Ntsebeza’s Democracy Compromised – Chiefs and the politics of land in South Africa (HSRC Press) makes a remarkable contribution to a crucial debate.Democracy Compromised – Chiefs and the politics of land in South Africa is by Lungisile Ntsebeza, a leading academic on the South African land reform programme and democratisation in rural South Africa. Resident at both the Department of Sociology at UCT and the Democracy and Governance research programme at the Human Sciences Research Council, Ntsebeza also heads up the Land and Governance Research Group in the Department of Sociology at UCT.Copies of all of HSRC Press published titles are available from leading booksellers nationally, and from the online bookshop at www.hsrcpress.ac.za.Contact Details Name : Karen Bruns Company : HSRC Press Phone :+27 21 466 8022 Email : kbruns@hsrc.ac.za URL : www.hsrcpress.ac.za