Traditional leadership and independent bantustans of south africa: some milestones of transformative constitutionalism beyond apartheid

Abstract

The object of this article is to explore and discuss the legal position and the role of the politics of the traditional leaders in the independent Bantustans or homelands of apartheid South Africa. As a point of departure, this article gives a brief account of the status of the traditional leaders before the inception of apartheid. In 1948, the now defunct National Party (NP) won the general elections and ascended to political power. The party's victory was marked by the formal introduction of apartheid.1 The main goal of the NP was racial, cultural and political purity.