The chief is a chief through the people

This research paper analyzes a 2013 North West High Court judgement regarding the Royal Bafokeng Nation's (RBN) authority to litigate on behalf of its community. The author argues that the case highlights a tension between the political authority of traditional leaders and the rights of community members to be consulted and to speak for themselves, particularly concerning land and resource ownership.

• The North West High Court in Mafikeng issued a judgement on 12 December 2013 regarding an interim application that challenged the Royal Bafokeng Nation's (RBN) authority to litigate on behalf of its community. The court found that the question of authority was important enough to be resolved as a preliminary issue, ruling that the RBN and its attorneys may not proceed in the main application until their authorization is decided.
• The main application, launched in 2008, sought to declare the RBN the owner of 61 properties in the North West, alleging the land was purchased by the community between 1869 and 1963. The RBN argued that the colonial-era 'trust' regime, where government functionaries held land 'in trust' for the chief, was discriminatory and paternalistic.
• Intervening parties, represented by the Legal Resources Centre, challenged the RBN's authority by arguing that the kgosi lacked proper authorization from the community. They contended that a 2005 Supreme Council resolution was invalid without broad consultation and was subsequently overturned by a Kgotha-Kgothe (general community meeting) on 29 July 2006.
• The author asserts that the current statutory framework for traditional leadership has failed to democratize leadership structures, leaving courts as the primary site for power struggles. This is exemplified by the high volume of leadership disputes, such as the over 500 disputes lodged in Limpopo by May 2012, none of which had been settled at the time of writing.
• There is a growing trend where traditional leaders are increasingly positioned as the sole representatives of their communities regarding land and resource claims. The author notes that the 2014 amendment to the Restitution of Land Rights Act shifted rhetoric toward strengthening traditional leadership, moving away from the 1994 approach that recognized smaller sub-groups or families as claimants.
• The author argues that the Mafikeng judgement is significant because it moves the legal discussion from which traditional structure is 'proper' to whether those structures complied with customary requirements of broad consultation and consent. This potentially challenges the historical notion of the chief as an autocrat whose will is law.

APA

Wicomb, W. (2014). The chief is a chief through the people. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SACQ49_Wicomb.pdf

Chicago

Wicomb, Wilmien. The chief is a chief through the people. Institute for Security Studies, 2014. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SACQ49_Wicomb.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wicomb |first1=Wilmien |title=The chief is a chief through the people |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=September 2014 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SACQ49_Wicomb.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wicomb2014chief, author = {Wicomb, Wilmien}, title = {{The chief is a chief through the people}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2014}, month = sep, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/SACQ49_Wicomb.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }