David Mofokeng
I met with David Mofokeng today, a Chief of the Bafokeng people and founder of the South African Long Distance Taxi Association (SALDTA). Enterprise Africa included him in a study of the minibus taxi industry, you can find it here. The summary: in 1959 he started out with one 15 passenger truck transporting people from Bergville (a township) to Johannesburg and Soweto. Under apartheid laws blacks were prohibited from traveling from rural areas to the city via taxis; instead, they had to use expensive public buses and trains. Mofokeng was repeatedly fined, beaten, and intimidated for defying the laws, but he persisted. His business continues today.
I met with him, however, because he wants to write a formal history of the Bafokeng people. The Bafokeng occupy the Free State province as well as Lesotho. The genealogy is complicated, to say the least. As a Chief, he plays a large role in the cultural identity of the Bafokeng. He helps to record customary laws, sort out issues surrounding land, and is generally the spokesperson for the community. He talked for over four hours today about how the history has been misrepresented. This is going to be a massive project.
How often are traditional laws employed in place of the SA legal regime? Is it mediation? Does it depend on the group?
Recent legislation, including the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, have created a “cultural role” for chiefs and other traditional leaders. According to law, they have almost no power. Municipal governments are in charge of service delivery in rural areas. In practice, however, I wonder what powers they have. It obviously depends on the community. Today I think they’re figureheads that occasionally help mediate conflicts within the commmunity they represent.