The Effect of the Legislated Powers of Traditional Authorities on Rural Women’s Rights in South Africa

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This is the first report for the project Longitudinal Study: The Effect of the Legislated Powers of Traditional Authorities on Rural WomenÀŸs Rights in South Africa. The project was conceived of, designed and convened by the Democracy and Governance Programme of the HSRC in 2003-4, to respond to new legislation entrenching the powers of traditional leaders in South Africa, and to assess its likely impact on the rights of rural women. This report offers an assessment of the progress of the legislation, as well as fieldwork reports from the 6 communities in which the fieldwork is being conducted with a view to establishing the baseline situation in those communities in advance of the implementation of the legislation. South Africa has made great advances in the past decade in the realisation of the basic human rights of all citizens, especially those first generation rights that guarantee equality for all in terms of representation and participation in government. However, the realisation of second generation or socio-economic rights has been less successful, with high unemployment rates, rural poverty and the ravages of HIV-AIDS contributing to an increase in income inequality and the continued suffering of particular sections of the population. Black women, in particular rural women, continue to bear the brunt of poverty. The question underpinning this research project is: to what extent are the rights of this section of the population being realised? This question is being addressed in this longitudinal study by monitoring the implementation of two pieces of legislation which will have a critical impact on the lives and rights of rural women: the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act 41 of 2003 (TLGFA) and the Communal Land Rights Act 10 of 2004 (CLRA).
The relationships between men and women, between government and citizen, between policy and practice and between political participation and resource allocation, are being explored in a 3-year study. The results are intended to provide both a scientific analysis of the impact of legislation on women’s lives, and a theoretical contribution to the global debate on gender, human rights and multicultural citizenship.

Publisher: HSRC
Year of Publication: 2006
Download : 19839_rwta_baseline_report_2006-libre.pdf