Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill in contravention of UN declaration, AfriForum urges Minister to act in interest of cultural communities

The Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill, 2024 (TKLB) in its current form is, according to AfriForum, in contravention of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). AfriForum, therefore, today made an appeal to Velenkosini Hlabisa, Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), to act in the interest of cultural communities and affect important changes to the bill.

AfriForum further indicated that the bill must be changed to reflect respect towards and consider the dignity of royal leaders, families and communities, and to empower them to lead the journey towards the destiny they want to shape for themselves. The letter to the Minister follows in the wake of AfriForum’s written comments on the bill that was submitted last week.

According to Barend Uys, Head of Intercultural Relations and Cooperation at AfriForum, the wording of the bill is very concerning. In a 2023 parliamentary answer, the Ministry of COGTA praised UNDRIP as a framework of “minimum standards for the survival, dignity, and well-being of indigenous peoples” that “elaborates on existing human rights instruments and clarifies how they apply to the specific situations of indigenous peoples”. Despite the South African government’s endorsement of this UN declaration, the TKLB stands in stark contrast to the principles the declaration seeks to embody.

In its letter to Hlabisa, AfriForum points out that:

• The bill is unjust and inappropriate as it allows for only two levels of leadership for Khoi-San communities, whilst three levels of leadership are allowed for traditional communities.
• Khoi-San community members are excluded from the Commission on Khoi-San matters, even though they are best equipped to provide input on the traditions, culture, customs and customary law of Khoi-San communities.
• Clauses 16(18) and 16(19) empower the Premier to take the land (that is the practical implication of the terms “amend the area of jurisdiction”) of a community after consultation with the traditional council or sub-council – whether they are in concurrence or not.
• A Premier is empowered to completely take over the functions of a traditional council for an indefinite period without any proper checks and balances.
• The bill empowers the Premier to have the final say in any agreement concluded by a council, stripping royal leaders and councils of all real authority.
• The bill does not empower councils to lead the planning and implementation of community development initiatives, programmes and projects and limits their ability to make a difference in their communities.
• The bill, in its current form, contravenes various articles of UNDRIP.

“The wording of the bill creates the impression that it was not drafted with the preservation and development of cultural communities and their traditions, culture, languages, customs, customary law and heritage in mind. It seems that the aim was to enable maximum control by government officials and to limit the initiative and authority of royal leaders, royal families and councils to a minimum,” says Uys.

Uys argues that “instead of being a bill that empowers royal leaders, councils and communities to take responsibility for their future and to lead development, it limits their initiative and moves all initiative and authority to government officials.”

“Peaceful co-existence of all the cultural communities in the country depends on the establishment of good intercultural relations and cooperation based on mutual recognition and respect. That is why AfriForum is actively building a network of cultural communities that can assist each other in matters such as these to ensure a prosperous future for all the communities’ children here at the southern tip of Africa,” concludes Uys.