Marion Edmunds
THE government wants to weed out traditional leaders who were placed in their communities by the old apartheid regime.
The Department of Constitutional Development is planning an investigation into the background of South Africa’s nearly 800 royals, which would include tracing family trees to try to determine which leaders are legitimate and which were planted for political purposes.
When the National Party government was in power, it was not uncommon for government officials to play “king-maker”, influencing the succession of traditional leaders, particularly in politically sensitive areas, as a means to control rural politics.
The department has no record of how many kings were actually made in the country, but it is understood the government pays nearly R150-million a year in salaries for traditional leaders.
Richard Sizani, departmental chief director of traditional affairs, said the investigation is part of a programme to enhance the role of traditional leaders, whose power has been stripped by the Constitution.
“In the drafting of our Constitution, there was a gap between the experience of the African people and the Western norms,” Sizani said. “I see here an opportunity to bring a fusion of these.”
The programme will also seek to regulate royals’ salaries, which vary widely from province to province. For example, the North-West provincial government pays its chiefs R60 000 a year, while the Free State pays the relatively niggardly sum of R2 400 a year.
Some cynics suggest the department wants to centralise the payments as a means to control political agendas. But Sizani said decisions on salaries would be made only after recent recommendations by the Steyn Commission have been thoroughly examined by the new Council of Traditional Leaders, as well as other institutions.