“He who pays the piper…”, the anomaly of custom and constitution local government and traditional leadership

Abstract

In December 2003 the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act 2003 (No 41 of 2003) was eventually promulgated. This was the culmination of an extended process of submissions Consultation releasing of a draft White Paper workshops activities of a White Paper Task Team and its subcommittees meetings with the responsible minister and between various ministries. Stemming from the experiences and perceptions of an anthropologist commissioned to become involved in a part of this process this paper seeks to interrogate some of the issues which emerged in the course of proceedings.