STEVEN FRIEDMAN: Democracy, it seems, is different in the countryside
A new bill seeks to give traditional councils the legal go-ahead to make deals with companies behind the backs of rural people
Is South African democracy only for city people? If not, why does no-one notice when the government works with chiefs and some companies to ram deals down the throats of rural people without their approval, particularly since this could change the course of the next election? Two weekends ago, the governing party in the National Council of Provinces tried to sneak the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Amendment Bill past citizens’ groups. It published a call for submissions on the bill in the Sunday press — the deadline was the following day. Most members of the council’s select committee on traditional affairs rejected this and so it extended the deadline, but only until October 27. It has scheduled public hearings on the bill between November and March 2018. Why did the government try to sneak this through? The bill’s dry title suggests that nothing of great interest is at stake. This impression is encouraged by the government, which insists this is a purely technica...
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