Intercultural Conflict and Traditional Leadership in the Indigenous Communities of South Africa

Abstract

The choice and installation of a leader differs from one group to another. Whereas some groups adopt the Western way of choosing a leader, some stick to their traditional cultural practices. The West considers all members of the community for a leadership role, whereas many African cultures do not consider all members of the community. In many instances, a traditional leader is identified in the royal house among the Africans. South African indigenous communities abide by their cultural practices when it comes to the choice of a chief or king. They choose their leader among the children of the deceased leader. The role of members of the royal family plays a dominant role in this regard. Cultural conflict is created when the Western way of choosing a leader is imposed on indigenous communities. The article seeks to highlight the conflict that results from mixed cultural practices. A literary work will be analyzed to illustrate the arguments.

Keywords

Bantu affairs / colonialists / chief / heir / indigenous communities / intercultural conflict / marriage / Tshivenḓa custom / traditional leadership / traditional practices

References

[1] Bizana—Tutu, Doly. (2008). Traditional leaders in South Africa: Yesterday, today and tomorrow. Unpublished MA dissertation. University of Western Cape. Cape Town.

[2] Sullivan, Nate. n.d. Modern Western culture & social life. https://study.com/academy/lesson/modern—western—culture—social—life.html accessed on 10.10.2018.

[3] Chen, Guo—Ming & Starosta, William J. (1998). Foundations of intercultural communication. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

[4] Gallios, Cynthia; Giles, Howard; Jones, Elizabeth; Cargile, Aaron C. & Ota, Hiroshi. (1995). Accommodating intercultural encounters: Elaborations and extensions. In Wisema, Richard L (Ed.), Intercultural communication theory: International and intercultural communication annual volume XIX (pp. 115-147). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

[5] Gyekye, Kwame. (1996). African cultural values: An introduction. Accra: Sankofa Publishing Company.

[6] Hall, Edward T. & Hall, Elisabeth. (1994). How cultures collide. In Weaver, Gary R. (Ed.), Culture, communication and conflict: Readings in intercultural relations (pp. 5-14). Needham Heights: Simon and Schuster Custom Publishing.

[7] Idang, Gabriel E. (2015). African culture and values. Phronimon, Vol. 16 n.2. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1561—40182015000200006 accessed on 10.10.2018.

[8] Khunou, Samuelson Freddie. (2009). Traditional leadership and independent Bantustans of South Africa: Some milestones of transformative constitutionalism beyond Apartheid. Potchefstroom Elektroniese Regsblad, 12(4), 1-26.

[9] Kim, Min—Sun. (2005). Culture—based conversational constraints theory: Individual— and culture—level analyses. In Gudykunst, William B. (Ed.), Theorizing about intercultural communication (pp. 93-117). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

[10] Lusig, Myron W. & Koester, Jolene. (1999). Intercultural competence: Interpersonal communication across cultures (3rd ed.). New York: Longman.

[11] Mafela, Munzhedzi James. (2005). Tshivenḓa literature: A historical sketch with special reference to its bibliography. Pretoria: Khande Publishers.

[12] Mafela, Munzhedzi James & Ntuli, Cynthia Danisile. (2017). Intercultural conflict and conflict management in South Africa as depicted in indigenous African literary texts. In Dai, Xiaodong & Chen, Guo—Ming (Eds.), Conflict management and intercultural communication: The art of intercultural harmony (pp. 179-193). London and New York: Routledge.

[13] Maumela, Titus N. (1976). Vhuhosi vhu tou Bebelwa. Pretoria: Van Schaik.

[14] Mӧnnig, Hermann Otto. (1978). The Pedi. Pretoria: Van Schaik.

[15] Seara—Robitaille, Savannah. n.d. Chieftaincy and kingship in South Africa. http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/chieftaincy—and—kingship—south—africa. 1—6. Accessed on 05.06.2018.

[16] Sanders, Antonius Johannes Gerardus Marie. (1983). Chieftainship and Western democracy in Botswana. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 2(2), 365-381.