Democracy Compromised: Chiefs and the Politics of the Land in South Africa
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Democracy Compromised © 2005 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-14482-8 Afrika-Studiecentrum Series Editorial Board Prof. Nicolas van de Walle (Michigan State University, USA) Prof. Deborah Posel (Director WISER, South Africa) Dr Ruth Watson (University of London, UK) Dr Paul Mathieu (FAO, Rome) Dr Piet Konings (African Studies Centre) VOLUME 5 © 2005 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-14482-8 Democracy Compromised Chiefs and the politics of the land in South Africa by Lungisile Ntsebeza BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2005 © 2005 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-14482-8 Cover photo The office of the Ehlathini Tribal Authority in Xhalanga (photo by Melanie Alperstein) This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ntsebeza, Lungisile. Democracy compromised : chiefs and the politics of the land in South Africa / by Lungisile Ntsebeza. p. cm. — (Afrika-Studiecentrum series, ISSN 1570-9310 ; v. 5) Based on the author's doctoral thesis. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 90-04-14482-X (pbk.) 1. Chiefdoms—South Africa—Xalanga. 2. Tribal government—South Africa—Xalanga 3. Political customs and rites—South Africa--Xalanga. 4. Democracy—South Africa— Xalanga. 5. Xalanga (South Africa)—Politics and government. 6. Xalanga (South Africa)— Social conditions. I. Title. II. Series. GN656.N87 2005 320.968—dc22 2005047112 ISSN 1570–9310 ISBN 90 04 14482 X © Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Academic Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands © 2005 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-14482-8 Contents List of maps viii Abbreviations ix FOREWORD 1 Background to the study 1 Terminology and spelling 4 The choice of case study 5 Methodology 6 The structure of the book 9 Acknowledgements 10 1TRADITIONAL AUTHORITIES, DEMOCRACY AND THE LAND QUESTION: SOME CONCEPTUAL AND THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS 13 Introduction 13 The resilience of traditional authorities and their role in a democracy: The debate 16 Assessment of the integration model 31 Conclusion 33 2 THE XHALANGA DISTRICT AND ITS PEOPLE: 1865-1883 36 Introduction 36 The establishment of Xhalanga 37 The population of Xhalanga up to 1883: Some major dynamics 40 Chieftainship in Xhalanga: The colonial push to undermine Gecelo and Stokwe 44 The official end of the Gecelo and Stokwe chieftainship 52 Conclusion 56 3 THE LAND QUESTION AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN XHALANGA: 1883-1924 58 Introduction 58 The land question in emigrant Thembuland up to 1883 60 The recommendations of the Thembuland commission on the land question 61 The Glen Grey Act and rural local government: A context 64 The Glen Grey Act and its impact in Xhalanga 69 The painful birth of the District Council in Xhalanga 91 Conclusion 92 © 2005 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-14482-8 vi 4 RURAL LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN XHALANGA IN THE ERA OF THE DISTRICT COUNCIL:THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES 93 Introduction 93 The District Council in Xhalanga 95 Chiefs in Xhalanga 102 The betterment/rehabilitation scheme in Xhalanga 108 Chief K.D. Matanzima in Xhalanga 121 Conclusion 128 5TRIBAL AUTHORITIES AND THE REVIVAL OF CHIEFTAINSHIP IN XHALANGA 131 Introduction 131 The establishment of Tribal Authorities and retribalisation in Xhalanga 132 Contextual background 136 Preliminary steps to set up Tribal Authorities in Xhalanga 139 Setting up the Xhalanga Tribal Authorities 143 Chieftainship in Xhalanga re-imposed 151 The government on the offensive: Arrests and deportations 161 Conclusion 173 6 ‘TSHISA, TSHISA’(BURN, BURN): THE STRUGGLE AGAINST TRIBAL AUTHORITIES INTENSIFIES 175 Introduction 175 Tshisa, tshisa: The climax of resistance in Xhalanga 176 Deportation 184 Divide and rule – Matanzima style 187 Proclamation 400, the coup de grace 191 The role of political organisations in rural resistance 194 Xhalanga in the late 1950s and the role of political organisations 198 The role of political organisations, women and youth in Xhalanga in the early 1960s 207 Conclusion 209 7THE ERA OF BANTU AUTHORITIES IN THE XHALANGA DISTRICT: A DECENTRALISED DESPOTISM? 212 Introduction 212 The consolidation of Tribal Authorities in Xhalanga 214 The re-emergence of organised resistance in Xhalanga 223 The struggle for land becomes more organised: The example of Emnxe 227 Political fermentation in the Xhalanga district 229 The shift to rural areas and the crisis of Tribal Authorities 240 The demarcation of land at Emnxe 245 © 2005 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-14482-8 vii From the demarcation of land to the first democratic election in 1994 249 Conclusion 253 8 DEMOCRACY COMPROMISED:POST-1994 RETRIBALISATION 256 Introduction 256 The ANC and the recognition of traditional authorities 257 The ANC policies on traditional authorities before the establishment of CONTRALESA 258 The formation of CONTRALESA and its significance 262 The position after the ANC was unbanned in 1990 266 The recognition of “the institution of traditional leadership” 268 The role of the IFP in the recognition of traditional authorities 271 The continental and global context 272 Rural dynamics in post-1994 South Africa 274 Democratising rural governance in South Africa’s democracy: 1994-1999/2000 277 The role and reaction of traditional authorities 280 The response of government up to 2002 281 Resolving the vexed question of the role of traditional authorities 284 Traditional authorities and their response 288 How do we explain the shift in favour of traditional authorities? 289 Conclusion 294 9 CONCLUSION 295 Neither citizens nor subjects 295 References 301 Index 321 © 2005 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-14482-8 viii List of maps 1 Map of the Eastern Cape showing the Queenstown area 2 2 Map of the Xhalanga District showing the four Tribal Authorities 145 © 2005 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-14482-8 ix Abbreviations AAC All African Convention ANC African National Congress ANCYL African National Congress Youth League AZAPO Azanian People’s Organisation BAD Bantu Affairs Department BRC Border Rural Committee CALUSA Cala University Students’ Association CATA Cape African Teachers Association CMT Chief Magistrate of the Transkei Territories CNIP Ciskei National Independence Party CONTRALESA Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa CODESA Conference for a Democratic South Africa COSAG Concerned South African Group COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions CPA Communal Property Association CPSA Communist Party of South Africa CRA Cala Residents Association DCs District Councils DLA Department of Land Affairs DRC Dutch Reformed Church EFU Economic Farming Unit EMRA Emnxe Residents Association GEAR Growth, Employment and Redistribution GNU Government of National Unity GRC Grahamstown Rural Committee HCT Health Care Trust HSRC Human Sciences Research Council ICU Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union IDP Integrated Development Plan IFP Inkatha Freedom Party IMF International Monetary Fund ISER Institute of Social and Economic Research MDM Mass Democratic Movement MK uMkhonto weSizwe MLA Member of Legislative Assembly MP Member of Parliament © 2005 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-14482-8 x MPNP Multi-Party Negotiation Process NEUM Non-European Unity Movement NGK Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk NGO Non-Governmental Organisation NRC Native Representative Council NOTPECO Northern Transvaal People’s Congress NP National Party NUM National Union of Mineworkers PAC Pan Africanist Congress PLAAS Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies PTO Permit to Occupy RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme SACHED South African Committee of Higher Education SACP South African Communist Party SAAWU South African Allied Workers’ Union SANAC South African Native Affairs Commission SANCO South African National Civic Organisation SAYCO South African Youth Congress SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDIs Spatial Development Initiatives SOYA Society of Young Africans TAARN Traditional Authority Applied ResearchNetwork TAVA Transkei African Voters’ Association TOB Transkei Organised Bodies TPC Transkei Planning Committee TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission UDF United Democratic Front UK United Kingdom ULPP Unemployment Labour Preference Policy UNISA University of South Africa USA United States of America USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics UTTGC United Transkeian Territories General Council WRI World Resources Institute XAYCO Xhalanga Youth Congress XCAC Xhalanga Campaigns Action Committee XYC Xhalanga Youth Club © 2005 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-14482-8 Foreword Background to the study This book is in many ways the product of over 10 years of an intellectual jour- ney. Soon after completing my Masters degree at the University of Natal, Durban, in 1993 on “Youth in Urban African Townships: A Case Study of the East London Townships”, I took up a research position in the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) at Rhodes University. My Masters thesis (Ntsebeza 1993) traced and analysed