| Summary: | This research investigated the role played by traditional leaders in environmental
governance in the context of decentralization, based on a case study of grass
utilization in QwaQwa. Specifically, the research focussed on weaving practices
under traditional systems and in the current context. While environmental
governance debates recognize the importance of the local scale through
concepts such as Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM)
and Local Action 21, environmental roles of traditional leaders in relation to
democratic institutions of local governance have not been adequately
researched. Using institutional frameworks, effectiveness of traditional institutions
of grass utilization in QwaQwa is analysed.
Findings from the research show that the role of traditional leaders in grass
utilization is shaped by historical, environmental and political factors that are
specific to QwaQwa. In the past, grass was managed through various traditional
practices with traditional leaders regulating access and enforcing traditional rules
of utilization. In behavioural terms, traditional practices that governed grass
utilization especially weaving were effective. Although traditional leaders continue to influence local affairs in QwaQwa, traditional practices in general and the
regulatory role of traditional leaders in grass utilization have been eroded.
Erosion of traditional practices resulted from the influence of colonial and
apartheid policies, misunderstandings of democracy, current local government
institutional reform and modernization, all of which undermined traditional
mechanisms of environmental governance, including grass utilization.
Overall, this research has demonstrated the fact that institutional mechanisms
that impact upon grass utilization are locally defined and influenced by the
historical context. Based on these findings, this research calls for broader
understanding of traditional leadership in the context of decentralization beyond
cultural conceptions.
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