This edited collection illustrates contestations over land and
political authority in South Africa's rural areas, focusing on
threats to popular rights and how they are being supported.
Who controls the land and minerals in the former Bantustans of South
Africa - chiefs, the state or landholders? Disputes are taking place
around the ownership of resources, decisions about their exploitation
and who should benefit. With respect to all of these issues, the courts
have become increasingly important.
The contributors to Land, Law and Chiefs in Rural South Africa capture
some of these intense contestations over land, law and political
authority, focussing on threats to the rights of ordinary people.
History and customary law feature strongly in most disputes and
succession to chieftaincy is also frequently disputed. Judges have to
make decisions in a context where rival claimants to property or office
assert their own versions of history and custom. The South African
constitution recognizes customary law and the courts are attempting to
incorporate and develop this branch of jurisprudence as 'living
customary law'. Lawyers, community leaders and academics are called on
to assist in researching cases around restitution, land rights and
customary law.
The chapters in this collection discuss legal cases and policy
directions that have evolved since 1994. Some chapters analyze the
increasing power of chiefs in the South African rural areas, while
others suggest that the courts are giving support to popular rights over
land and supporting local democratic processes. Contributors record
significant pushback from groups that reject traditional authority.
These political tensions are a central theme of the collection and thus
serve as vital case studies in furthering our understanding of rights
and restitution in South Africa.
