Succession in Afrikaner traditional authority

Abstract

Abstract provided by author

Since the Afrikaner Traditional Authority has appointed a new chief on 6th of March 2004 as their paramount leader, there has always been commotion in this community. The reason behind this is, because the person so appointed is a woman, namely "Gaos" Hendrina Martha Afrikaner. Consequently the appointment has boils down to a criticism and unhappiness. Now the alleged "Royal family" seeks an advice to see if they can reverse the said appointment or whether they may have an action either against the Minister of Regional and Local Government who have allegedly approved this appointment, or against the chief so appointed. In the light of this brief background of the problem at hand,the critical question to be answered in this paper is whether the appointment carries value in terms of the Afrikaner Traditional Authority's customary law and who may be blamed for the irregularity, if any

This topic is therefore relevant to the study of law, particularly in the field of customary law because it will help law researchers and academicians to have better understanding, first of all of the traditional practices within the chosen community. Although norms and practices are unique in each community, this research will acquaint one with the rules pertaining to succession of chiefs or head of community as it is exercised in the Afrikaner Community. On the other hand the study of succession in the chosen community will enable one to distinguish it from the practices as found in various other Nama communities in Namibia, in respect of the selection or appointmentof chiefs. This study can also show the similarities or differences of traditional practices and beliefs within traditional authorities in Namibia

This proposal is submitted for a dissertation in partial fulfillment of the Professional-LLB Degree at the University of Namibia (UNAM). Even though, not much has been written on this particular topic concerning the chosen community, there are literatures which can supplement this paper. For instance, there are documents and books on customary law in Namibia, the Namibian Constitution, the Traditional Authorities Act, the Traditional Leaders Act, and case law which will be considered to support the paper. On the other hand, both disk-stop and empirical research will be conducted in order to gather the required information. At least ten people, including both man and women will be interviewed for the purpose of this paper. Finally the concerned group will be advised accordingly after proper consideration of the given facts and results obtained from the research

In its first chapter, the dissertation looks into the introduction, the historical background of the problem, the thesis statement of the research problem, the relevancy of the chosen topic, the purpose of the topic, the literature review, the questions to be answered and the adopted methodology. The second chapter will be dealing with the historical background of the Afrikaner Traditional Authority, the origin of the tradition observance, the process of succession, and the complication of succession. The third chapter focuses on the views of the concerned group (the opposing members), and the views of the defending group (the members in favor). The fourth chapter of the dissertation will look at the various laws in respect of recognition and application of customary law in Namibia. Finally the last chapter will look at the possible solution, recommendations and the conclusion of the paper.