Leadership bill dissolves rather than strengthens power of rural people

The pleas of thousands of rural people who made difficult journeys to attend public hearings across the country are largely ignored in the amended version of the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill set to be adopted by the National Assembly this week. Appeals for consultation, the right to decide the use of their own land, accountability for revenues earned off their land and a say over the boundaries that define their identities — and many other rights — receive, at best, cosmetic attention in the draft bill adopted by Parliament’s co-operative governance and traditional affairs portfolio committee.