Marion Edmunds
TRADITIONAL leaders are targeting President Nelson Mandela in a campaign to get more power before local government elections.
Head of the Congress of Traditional Leaders, Chief Patekile Holomisa, sent Mandela a letter last week reminding him of promises made during multi-party negotiations. These included the setting up of provincial houses of traditional leaders and a national Council of Traditional Leaders.
Holomisa, who is an ANC MP, is also threatening to take the government to court to challenge a proclamation that gives traditional leaders seats on rural local councils in an ex-officio capacity or as part of an “interest group”. This would put traditional leaders on a par with rural women, who are also defined as an interest group.
“We resent this,” said an angry Holomisa this week.
It is clear that there is a movement to get matters traditional back onto the table in the run-up to the elections. Both IFP and ANC sources confirm that a secret meeting between Contralesa and IFP-aligned amakhosi took place this month to find common ground. Furthermore, hitherto unknown traditional leaders are emerging out of the shadows. The Department of Constitutional Affairs is having discussions with Griqua leaders, who could be included in a Northern Cape House of Traditional Leaders.
Chief Holomisa is clearly irritated that traditional leaders are not being favoured in the setting up of rural local government. “It’s becoming clear that the government listens only if you are aggressive. We want to co-operate but we are the guarantors of the rights of our people.”
ANC MP Pravin Gordhan, chair of the Constitutional Affairs Portfolio Committee, rejects criticism that the ANC is not heeding traditional leaders. He says his committee, responsible for vetting all local government proclamations, had not been approached by Contralesa.
And ANC secretary-general Cyril Ramaphosa said this week that the constitution could not justify inequality between men and women and men and men, according to traditional customs. However, the ANC is also fully aware of the influence traditional leaders have in the rural areas, particularly when it comes to gathering support for the transition in local government. It would be foolhardy to alienate them less than two months before the elections.