New forms of old power: traditional governance in the platinum belt

To launch the SA Crime Quarterly special edition, this seminar discussed corruption, impunity and violence in the platinum mining communities of North West province.

Date: 2014-11-06

Time: 11:00 to 12:30

Venue: Nelson Mandela Foundation , 107 Central Street , Houghton , Johannesburg

An immense irony characterises the scramble for land in South Africa. Some of the ethnic ‘homelands’ to which people were confined by apartheid laws have become valuable real estate since the discovery of platinum and other minerals. The mining economy has shifted to these areas, often with devastating consequences and few benefits for those whose historical lands are now being mined.

Developments over the past 20 years have left people in rural South Africa, especially in the platinum mining areas of North West and Limpopo provinces, feeling squeezed between the state, mining companies and traditional leaders. Conflict has arisen as people struggle to hold traditional leaders accountable for decisions about lucrative mining deals and the allocation of their proceeds.

The ISS, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Centre for Law and Society at the University of Cape Town hosted a seminar to launch the latest edition of South African Crime Quarterly which deals with these conflicts. Dr Mbongiseni Buthelezi from the University of Cape Town and guest editor of the special edition of SACQ, chaired the event. The speakers were:

• David Pheto, member of the Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela community
• Wilmien Wicomb, attorney, Constitutional Litigation Unit Legal, Legal Resources Centre
• Sonwabile Mnwana, researcher in the Mining and Rural Transformation in Southern Africa (MARTISA) project, Society Work and Development Institute (SWOP), University of the Witwatersrand

Sello Hatang, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, drew attention to the need for: equitable land restitution, traditional leaders to facilitate social cohesion, and the private sector to play a role in sustainably developing the rural areas where mining takes place.

Buthelezi said the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act has effectively re-established ‘homelands’ with local governance structures that mirror apartheid-era Bantu authorities. Attempts to both democratise traditional councils and identify legitimate customary leaders have largely failed leading to widespread disaffection. This raises unresolved questions about the role of traditional leaders in a democracy and the rights of those living in ‘traditional communities’.

Wicomb, who has acted on behalf of communities in the North West seeking redress against traditional leaders who have entered into business deals without their full consent, said the key question is how communities make decisions collectively that impact on the land, resources and rights. Since 2002 policy and legislation has shifted: chiefs rather than community members are consulted even though there are no clear mechanisms to hold chiefs accountable for their decisions.

The Bakgatla-ba-kgafela community became the focus of attention, with Mnwana and Pheto drawing attention to the protracted conflicts about the allocation of mining proceeds, and about who has a valid claim to the land. The power of the traditional leader has been enhanced both by the wealth resulting from his control over mineral resources, and by court judgements that have prevented community members from meeting about the issue. Pheto asked: ‘If you want to hold a chief to account, how do you do so if you have to have the Chief’s permission to call a meeting?’

A deeper dialogue is needed that addresses how corporations enter into business deals with traditional leaders and the consequences of this apparent ‘re-tribalisation’. Increasingly the struggles between traditional leaders and members of the communities they are meant to serve are being played out in the courts at great expense to litigants, and with little hope of satisfactory resolution. Unless this critical issue is addressed at a political level, and through extensive dialogue including with traditional leaders, the future of mining in these areas, and the rights and welfare of people living in the platinum belt will be at risk.

This seminar was hosted in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Centre for Law and Society, University of Cape Town.