Traditional Authorities and Social Development in South Africa

Abstract

Traditional leadership was the cornerstone of sociopolitical development in pre—colonial South Africa. However, with the arrival of the colonialists in Africa, this important institution became corrupt. The colonial administrators destabilized what traditional administration stood for and made use of native leaders as tools of colonial administration. In post 1994 however, leaders of South Africa have gone all out to revive traditional leadership in South Africa. It is based on the foregoing discussion that this study seeks to investigate traditional authorities and social development in South Africa. The focus is to interrogate whether the ANC-led govemment’s decisions to resuscitate native institutions in South Africa can help promote development.