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A case study: Traditional Leaders vs local Government Officials
Developing policies that serve the people while also improving working relations between traditional leaders and local government officials: a case study of the Canadian model

Sweltering KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and icy Toronto might seem worlds apart but as Heinz Kuhn, manager of Legal Services at the KZN Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, and his colleagues discovered on a recent trip to Canada, they share some important similarities. As a province, KwaZulu-Natal faces many challenges, including enormous poverty and lack of infrastructure in rural areas. Finding innovative solutions is what took them to Canada and Canadian International Development Agency's funding enabled them to visit Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

"In KwaZulu-Natal, we are grappling with legislation dating back to 1889," explain Heinz. "It needs to be re-written, but before drafting policy we wanted to look at examples of other countries that were similar to South Africa to see what they had done and learn from them. Of all the countries we studied – including India and New Zealand – Canada stood out as the best example. Not only is it run efficiently, but we share some striking similarities. Like us, they have traditional leaders who are influential and have to be consulted when making important decisions that affect the communities they lead. What's more Sir George Grey - once governor of the Cape Colony and high commissioner to South Africa - moved from South Africa to Canada and we share a similar legislative framework as far as traditional leaders and institutions are concerned."

"Traditional leaders in South Africa play an important role in local government affairs," continues Heinz. "In Canada First Nation leaders are treated with a lot of respect and participate fully in municipal affairs. The Canadians have found a very constructive way of involving their traditional leaders to ensure efficient service delivery and management of local affairs."

In South Africa, there appears to be competing interests between municipalities and local traditional leaders. It boils down to perceptions of control and power. In some areas elected municipal officials are not able to do their jobs because the local traditional leaders are in control. As a result, service delivery falters and South Africans are left without basic services such as water, sanitation or decent roads.

The Canadian experience indicates that a traditional leader needs not be in competition with local government leaders but can be used as a resource person to improve service deliver in the areas in which these traditional leaders are in control. For instance, "in many deep-rural areas the local traditional leader is the only contact with the outside world," Heinz explains. "It makes administrative and practical sense to hand over control of certain services and functions to them. In many rural local municipalities, for instance, there are no fire-fighting services in heavily forested areas. The monitoring of this service is something that traditional leaders could easily take control of, and they could also be responsible for recording births, deaths and help monitor communicable diseases."

But, it is not just the treatment of traditional leaders in Canada that impressed Heinz and his colleagues. There were other innovations that caught the South Africans' attention. British Columbia has one independent property assessment company, for instance, that is responsible for all municipal evaluations. This minimises any discrepancies in valuations and is very efficient.

"They also have a very interesting funding model that hinges on what is essentially a municipal bank," continues Heinz. "All municipalities contribute to it and it is listed on the stock exchange. It has a triple-A credit rating and municipalities can borrow from it at a reduced lending rate, making it much more affordable than banks which charge a far higher interest rate. This means that municipalities can fund public works or whatever else that needs to be done in their area easily."

But, it was the protection of agricultural land that really caught Heinz's attention as KwaZulu-Natal also has prime agricultural land and managing it effectively is a top priority.

"In British Columbia, agricultural land is regarded as a very important resource and it is classified as having a high, medium or low value. There is a big focus on food security and agriculture. And, despite ever-expanding cities, the agricultural land reserve has actually increased by over 60 000 hectares, since protection of the land was put in place some 35 years ago. In South Africa, prime agricultural land is often used for housing and golf estates and we clearly need to scrutinise this, especially as food security becomes more critical."

"There are so many lessons to be learnt," says Heinz. "Changes need to be implemented and it is very exciting seeing what can be achieved by a committed local and provincial government. The assistance of CIDA has been invaluable in opening our eyes to what can be done, and we are extremely grateful for this opportunity. I have since been back again to visit the Provincial Governments in Toronto and Victoria, and I have had extremely fruitful discussions with them.

Since returning from his Canadian visits, Heinz has had his hands full. Recommendations have been made and legislation has been drafted and submitted to the provincial legislature. If all goes well, it could be signed into law by the end of 2010. With regard to the Agricultural Land Commission, I am proposing a similar model in KwaZulu-Natal, and hope to visit the Commission as part of a group of officials from the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development in the near future."
 
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