Contest in Governance-Local Government Bounderies and Traditional Authority Bounderies in South Africa

After democracy in 1994, South African underwent a period of reform in order to address inequalities and effect broad social change. As part of this, the Municipal Demarcation Board began demarcating local government boundaries in 1998. There was a lack of public participation by rural communities, and traditional communal lands were often split by municipal boundaries which failed to follow complex social boundaries followed by rural communities for centuries. A duality in governance of traditional areas was thus created and traditional authority and responsibility were severely affected. Contest between the state and traditional governance over land resulted in disputes and even violence (Maharaj, 2002). This research adopts a case study approach to investigate cases of disputes involving municipal boundaries and traditional authority. The causes of disputes are investigated and the processes of municipal demarcation and boundary dispute resolution are analysed against a number of frameworks such as those of good governance and performance measurement. From this critique improvements to the municipal demarcation processes are suggested.