TRADITIONAL JUSTICE IN PRACTICE A LIMPOPO CASE STUDY

This report examines the role of traditional leadership in the administration of justice and crime prevention within the Limpopo province of South Africa. It analyzes the tension between traditional customary law and the post-1994 democratic constitutional framework, highlighting the practical application of traditional courts and the systemic marginalization of traditional leaders from formal state crime prevention strategies.

• Traditional courts in Limpopo often apply 'living customary law'—unwritten, non-static practices—rather than 'official customary law' found in statutes, utilizing a common-sense, inquisitorial approach to dispute resolution.
• Traditional leaders report a sense of impotence and lack of control over their communities in the democratic era, citing a lack of 'muscle' and the inability to use traditional sanctions like resettlement to maintain social order.

APA

TSHEHLA, B. (2005). TRADITIONAL JUSTICE IN PRACTICE A LIMPOPO CASE STUDY. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/115FULL.PDF

Chicago

TSHEHLA, BOYANE. TRADITIONAL JUSTICE IN PRACTICE A LIMPOPO CASE STUDY. Institute for Security Studies, 2005. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/115FULL.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=TSHEHLA |first1=BOYANE |title=TRADITIONAL JUSTICE IN PRACTICE A LIMPOPO CASE STUDY |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=April 2005 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/115FULL.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tshehla2005traditional, author = {TSHEHLA, BOYANE}, title = {{TRADITIONAL JUSTICE IN PRACTICE A LIMPOPO CASE STUDY}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2005}, month = apr, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/115FULL.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }