Traditional leadership and the use of cultural laws in land administration: implications for rural women's land rights in a transforming South Africa

Ntwasa, Bayanda

Title: Traditional leadership and the use of cultural laws in land administration: implications for rural women's land rights in a transforming South Africa
Creator: Ntwasa, Bayanda
Subject: Land tenure -- South Africa
Subject: Rural women -- South Africa
Subject: Tribal government -- South Africa
Subject: Land use, Rural -- South Africa
Subject: Right of property -- South Africa
Subject: Women's rights -- South Africa
Subject: Chiefdoms -- South Africa
Subject: Political leadership -- South Africa
Date: 2009
Type: Thesis
Type: Masters
Type: M Soc Sc (Rural Development)
Identifier: vital:11938
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/134
Identifier: Land tenure -- South Africa
Identifier: Rural women -- South Africa
Identifier: Tribal government -- South Africa
Identifier: Land use, Rural -- South Africa
Identifier: Right of property -- South Africa
Identifier: Women's rights -- South Africa
Identifier: Chiefdoms -- South Africa
Identifier: Political leadership -- South Africa
Description: This dissertation critically examines how traditional leaders use cultural laws to allocate land to women and to allow women to participate in land administration in communal areas. Given the government's commitment to gender equity in all spheres of life as stipulated in Section 9 (3) of the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), the dissertation examines whether related legislation and policy (such as CLARA and TLGFA) alone can guarantee equitable access to land for women and their participation in land administration structures in communal areas where patriarchy dominates. In essence, the study interrogates whether state intervention through formalizing laws that govern land matters do achieve gender equity while cultural laws still exist in communal areas. Based on the view that land in communal areas is held by the state and administered by traditional leaders who have historically discriminated against women, the dissertation employs a case study method to examine whether cultural laws are exercised when women apply for a piece of land at the three levels of traditional authority viz: village, sub-village and traditional council levels in the Matolweni village of the Nqadu Tribal Authority. Although women are often the de facto rights holders in rural areas as a result of male migration to urban areas, findings seem to indicate that it is difficult and/or sometimes impossible to translate paper laws into practice while cultural laws are still operating. For effective transformation to occur, the study recommends that unless a strong women's rural movement emerges, coupled with a socialist feminist position that advocates for a radical transformation of rural society to defeat the patriarchal norms and standards, traditional leaders will continue to discriminate against women in land issues.
Format: 91 leaves; 30 cm
Format: pdf
Publisher: University of Fort Hare
Publisher: Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanities
Language: English
Rights: University of Fort Hare

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