Thesis ( M. Tech. (Public Management )) - Central University of Technology, Free State, 2013 / Traditional Leaders (Chiefs) historically served as “governors” of their communities with
authority over all aspects of life, ranging from social welfare to judicial functions. The
Basotho generally hold Chiefs in high esteem, continue to turn to them for assistance
when conflict arises, depend on them for services, such as birth and death registration
and regard them as integral and relevant role-players in local governance. Although
many countries in Africa maintain a system of Traditional Leadership and many have
incorporated Traditional Leaders into democratic forms of government, a concern exists
in some quarters that Chieftainship in Lesotho may present a challenge to democratic
governance and development. Similarly, local government structures created by the
current decentralisation processes are perceived by many as deteriorating the authority
of Chiefs. According to the Constitution of Lesotho, 1993 (Act 5 of 1993), the co-
existence of the Chiefs and local Councils are legitimised. Under the legislation
governing this process (the Local Government Act, 1997 (Act 6 of 1997), some of their
powers and functions have been transferred to local government structures. The major
sources of conflict between Chiefs and Councillors appear to be uncertainty and
confusion around roles and functions of the various role-players created by the
legislative and institutional framework and the loss of power and status that many Chiefs
feel. Some of this confusion may be a deliberate form of resistance to the changes, but
it is apparent that legislative clarity is required and that the roles and functions of all role-
players need to be clearly defined and understood if development is to take place in a
coordinated way.
The inclusion of two Chiefs in each Community Council as well as two in District
Municipalities would seem a genuine attempt to ensure that Chiefs are not marginalised
in this modern system of local governance in Lesotho. The high proportion of Traditional
Leaders (Principal Chiefs) in the Senate is a clear indication of the pre-eminence of the
institution of Chieftaincy (Traditional Leadership) in Lesotho. On the other hand, the
National Assembly is completely elected and consists of 120 members, elected through
the so-called Mixed–Member-Proportional representation model. Although Chieftaincy is
part of this organ of the state, it has limited powers in the legislative process and general
decision-making processes outside Parliament. These powers are instead a jurisdiction
of the elected representatives in the National Assembly. A similar set up exists at the
local government level where Councillors enjoy decision-making powers with
Chieftainship structures, such as the village, area and ward Chiefs role being
ambiguously defined.
It is very clear that the co-existence of the two institutions is a very crucial and
challenging one. This co-existence has raised a number of political, developmental and
conceptual problems and problems and challenges that have not been adequately
addressed, let alone resolved. One of the problems is the anomalous situation in which
people are simultaneously citizens of the state and subjects of the Chiefs. Other
challenges include, amongst others, contradicting legislation, revenue constraints, a lack
of human resource capacity, poor stakeholder management, the increasing rate of
HIV/Aids in Lesotho, and so forth. Possible causes of these challenges had been
investigated as well as how they can be managed or minimised in order to enable Chiefs
to play an effective role in a modern democracy.
With this research study an attempt was made to explore the role of Traditional Leaders
in the current system of local government in Lesotho and how to improve Chieftainship
as a strategy to complement governance at the grassroots level. The term “Chiefs” is
used in this research study as synonymous to Traditional Leaders, because it is the
term used in all legislation dealing with Traditional Leaders in Lesotho and it includes
Principal Chiefs, Area Chiefs, Chiefs and Headmen, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cut/oai:ir.cut.ac.za:11462/240 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Matlanyane, Letlatsa. |
| Contributors | Laubscher, L.H., Central University of Technology, Free State. Department of Government Management |
| Publisher | Bloemfontein: Central University of Technology, Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 855 959 bytes, 1 file, Application/PDF |
| Rights | Central University of Technology, Free State |
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