A sustainable framework for resolving conflicts involving traditional leaders and ward committees in a local municipality of South Africa

Abstract

In several countries, traditional leaders and Ward Committees are respected players in rural development. In light of this, the South African government made several efforts to build sustainable harmony among traditional leaders (TLs) and Ward Committees (WCs) in all local Municipalities. However, several conflicts that continue to characterize the relationship between the two leadership institutions compromise their ability to effectively contribute towards rural development. Even though this is the case, existing conflict resolution frameworks (CRFs) have failed to yield sustainable peace. This situation demands that urgent action be taken to backstop the tensions before they become widespread and more devastating. Thus, the current study was built on the premise that the leadership disputes undermine the prospects of realizing meaningful development in rural areas. The current study was designed such that it would result in a framework for sustainable resolution of conflicts between traditional leaders and Ward Committees. Following an exploratory research approach, a case study was carried out in Greater Giyani Local Municipality to develop a relevant conflict resolution framework. Respondents in the survey were selected using purposive sampling. Data on conflicts among community leadership was collected. Traditional leaders, Ward Councillors, representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and prominent people within Greater Giyani were the respondents. Desk studies, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. Thematic content analysis was used to bring the meaning to qualitative data. The qualitative data was captured and analysed using ATLAS.ti version 8. In achieving that, the first step was to ascertain the nature of conflicts between traditional leaders and Ward Committees. Secondly, this study aimed to determine the major causes and consequences of conflicts between TLs and WCs. Thirdly, suggest applicable conflict resolution framework between traditional leaders and Ward Committees. Lastly, develop a framework for resolving conflicts between traditional leaders and Ward Committees that would contribute to achieving sustainable peace. Thus, this study offered an evidence-based assessment on the existing conflict resolution frameworks (CRFs) within the broader framework of co-operative governance and social reconstruction efforts. The findings of this current study reflected that non-violent conflicts were common between TLs and WCs in Greater Giyani local Municipality. However, there were isolated reported cases of violent conflicts. Respondents during key informant interviews (KIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) indicated that several conflicts were caused by power contestations, cultural factors and allocation of land among others. All the communities that experienced community leadership conflicts were concerned that community members were highly polarised, their property damaged and in some cases lost human lives. Interviews contacted revealed that the existing conflict resolution frameworks lacked inclusiveness, and that institutions dealing with conflicts were perceived to be biased. Therefore, present study provided a conflict resolution framework that can be used in influencing agenda setting, informing interventions, advocating for programs and policies that promotes peace building and co-operative governance. This assists decision makers to make pre-informed decisions before providing support to local Municipalities on resolving conflicts and peace building. The use of participatory research methods in the present study helped to ground the work in conflict resolution and peacebuilding; thus, contributing to community engagement practices. Considering the nature and scope of conflicts between TLs and WCs in Greater Giyani local Municipality should utilise, an all-stakeholder inclusive framework to arrest conflicts. An expansion of this present study to cover other rural areas with different cultures might be a valuable avenue for future studies. Lastly, the practicality of the framework makes it easier for key peace stakeholders and other practitioners to use in future. Key words: community development, community leader, local Municipality, rural community, traditional leaders