Two successive 2018 court judgments guaranteed people living in the parts of South Africa demarca... more Two successive 2018 court judgments guaranteed people living in the parts of South Africa demarcated as communal areas the right to refuse to allow mining on their land. As debates around land restitution and redistribution gripped the country, these cases shone a light on land tenure security in people’s struggles to remain on their ancestral land in the face of continued dispossession after 1994. This article argues that in preserving core elements of the colonially created tribal administration system in the democratic landscape, the state has retained the structures and the imaginative framework that allow particular people to be treated as “natives” who can be moved and stripped of foundational rights, as tribal institutions were designed to do. The Maledu and Baleni cases are illustrative of struggles across the country in which people in communal areas are demanding full recognition and exercise of their rights as citizens.
In February 2014, following years of resistance, the Traditional Courts Bill (TCB), was allowed t... more In February 2014, following years of resistance, the Traditional Courts Bill (TCB), was allowed to lapse in Parliament. This followed intense opposition by citizens in rural areas, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities (DWCPD) and other institutions in the public consultations held by Parliament on the Bill. Despite significant structural and procedural obstacles to participation in these consultations, including the fact that the state assisted only traditional leaders to attend public hearings, many people in rural areas gave eloquent inputs on the Bill. Even though the official word is that the Bill simply lapsed, this is a direct consequence of this national resistance. It is a victory for the thousands of people who opposed the Bill, for the millions of people who will not be forced to live under the separate legal system that the Bill had proposed, and for South Africa's democratic structures which...
The Traditional Courts Bill (TCB) has drawn national attention since its introduction to the Nati... more The Traditional Courts Bill (TCB) has drawn national attention since its introduction to the National Assembly (NA) in 2008, much of which influenced the Bill’s withdrawal in 2011 and re-emerged with the Bill’s reintroduction to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in December 2011. Strong criticism of the TCB has come from civil society groups, which have argued that the Bill is unconstitutional because it would violate the rights of millions of people and fundamentally challenge the basic tenets of common citizenship in South Africa. Proponents of the TCB have mostly argued that the Bill is necessary to preserve, restore and legislate customary law, often characterising opponents to the TCB as opposed to customary law and traditional leadership. This report examines the submissions on the TCB made to Parliament in 2008 and 2012. This examination reflects on the dominant themes and reactions to the TCB communicated through the submissions, analysing responses to both the conten...
The Oxford Handbook of South African History, 2020
Two successive 2018 court judgments guaranteed people living in the parts of the South Africa dem... more Two successive 2018 court judgments guaranteed people living in the parts of the South Africa demarcated as communal areas the right to refuse mining on their land. As debates around land restitution and redistribution gripped the country, these cases shone light on tenure security in people’s struggles to remain on their ancestral land in the face of continued dispossession post-1994. This chapter argues that in preserving core elements of the colonially created tribal administration system in the democratic landscape, the state has retained the structures and the imaginative framework that allow particular people to be treated as ‘natives,’ who can be moved and stripped of foundational rights, as tribal institutions were designed to do. The Maledu and Baleni cases are illustrative of struggles across the country in which people in communal areas are demanding full recognition and exercise of their rights as citizens.
In 2015, the Land and Accountability Research Centre (LARC) (formerly the Rural Women's Action Re... more In 2015, the Land and Accountability Research Centre (LARC) (formerly the Rural Women's Action Research Project (RWAR) at the Centre for Law and Society (CLS)) partnered with Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) to develop a special edition of the People's Law Journal focused on on rural land justice. The People's Law Journal is a plain-language, user-friendly legal publication targeting activists and community-based organisations (CBOs). The edition deals extensively with the current challenges facing rural and peri-urban communities living on communal land in South Africa, including tenure insecurity, problems associated with land restitution and reform, problems related to traditional governance structures and displacements due to extractive industries. The edition also include an overview of important developments in jurisprudence on customary law and the legal protections granted to many rural communities.
Two successive 2018 court judgments guaranteed people living in the parts of South Africa demarca... more Two successive 2018 court judgments guaranteed people living in the parts of South Africa demarcated as communal areas the right to refuse to allow mining on their land. As debates around land restitution and redistribution gripped the country, these cases shone a light on land tenure security in people’s struggles to remain on their ancestral land in the face of continued dispossession after 1994. This article argues that in preserving core elements of the colonially created tribal administration system in the democratic landscape, the state has retained the structures and the imaginative framework that allow particular people to be treated as “natives” who can be moved and stripped of foundational rights, as tribal institutions were designed to do. The Maledu and Baleni cases are illustrative of struggles across the country in which people in communal areas are demanding full recognition and exercise of their rights as citizens.
In February 2014, following years of resistance, the Traditional Courts Bill (TCB), was allowed t... more In February 2014, following years of resistance, the Traditional Courts Bill (TCB), was allowed to lapse in Parliament. This followed intense opposition by citizens in rural areas, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities (DWCPD) and other institutions in the public consultations held by Parliament on the Bill. Despite significant structural and procedural obstacles to participation in these consultations, including the fact that the state assisted only traditional leaders to attend public hearings, many people in rural areas gave eloquent inputs on the Bill. Even though the official word is that the Bill simply lapsed, this is a direct consequence of this national resistance. It is a victory for the thousands of people who opposed the Bill, for the millions of people who will not be forced to live under the separate legal system that the Bill had proposed, and for South Africa's democratic structures which...
The Traditional Courts Bill (TCB) has drawn national attention since its introduction to the Nati... more The Traditional Courts Bill (TCB) has drawn national attention since its introduction to the National Assembly (NA) in 2008, much of which influenced the Bill’s withdrawal in 2011 and re-emerged with the Bill’s reintroduction to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in December 2011. Strong criticism of the TCB has come from civil society groups, which have argued that the Bill is unconstitutional because it would violate the rights of millions of people and fundamentally challenge the basic tenets of common citizenship in South Africa. Proponents of the TCB have mostly argued that the Bill is necessary to preserve, restore and legislate customary law, often characterising opponents to the TCB as opposed to customary law and traditional leadership. This report examines the submissions on the TCB made to Parliament in 2008 and 2012. This examination reflects on the dominant themes and reactions to the TCB communicated through the submissions, analysing responses to both the conten...
The Oxford Handbook of South African History, 2020
Two successive 2018 court judgments guaranteed people living in the parts of the South Africa dem... more Two successive 2018 court judgments guaranteed people living in the parts of the South Africa demarcated as communal areas the right to refuse mining on their land. As debates around land restitution and redistribution gripped the country, these cases shone light on tenure security in people’s struggles to remain on their ancestral land in the face of continued dispossession post-1994. This chapter argues that in preserving core elements of the colonially created tribal administration system in the democratic landscape, the state has retained the structures and the imaginative framework that allow particular people to be treated as ‘natives,’ who can be moved and stripped of foundational rights, as tribal institutions were designed to do. The Maledu and Baleni cases are illustrative of struggles across the country in which people in communal areas are demanding full recognition and exercise of their rights as citizens.
In 2015, the Land and Accountability Research Centre (LARC) (formerly the Rural Women's Action Re... more In 2015, the Land and Accountability Research Centre (LARC) (formerly the Rural Women's Action Research Project (RWAR) at the Centre for Law and Society (CLS)) partnered with Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) to develop a special edition of the People's Law Journal focused on on rural land justice. The People's Law Journal is a plain-language, user-friendly legal publication targeting activists and community-based organisations (CBOs). The edition deals extensively with the current challenges facing rural and peri-urban communities living on communal land in South Africa, including tenure insecurity, problems associated with land restitution and reform, problems related to traditional governance structures and displacements due to extractive industries. The edition also include an overview of important developments in jurisprudence on customary law and the legal protections granted to many rural communities.
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