'One Chief, One Vote': The Revival of Traditional Authorities in Post-Apartheid South Africa

During the apartheid era, chiefs were maligned as puppets of bantustan rule. In ANC-related circles, it was widely assumed that chieftaincy would not survive in the post apartheid era. But the institution of traditional leadership has proved highly flexible. Rather than being phased out as relics of pre-modem times, chiefs are re-asserting themselves in the new South Africa. Chiefs have survived throughout this century with a strategy of shifting alliances. Towards the end of the 1980s, chiefs were re-orienting themselves towards the ANC, rightly perceived as the new ruling party-in-waiting. Combining the resources of tradition with a discourse of liberation politics and development, they were able to explain constitutional and other legal guarantees for the position of traditional leaders and their representations in the local, provincial and national administration. For its part, the ANC had an interest in wooing chiefs to its side in order to prevent the emergence of a conservative alliance where traditional leaders could join forces with the bantustan elites. The article analyses these developments, discusses the main themes of debate and concludes with a briefcase study of chieftaincy issues in the Northern Transvaal.