| dc.description.abstract | In the 1990s, South African civic leaders predicted that the institution of chieftaincy would be swept away by the advent of democracy. However, the anticipations of the chieftaincy’s demise proved to be wrong. In many parts of South Africa, the chieftaincy has remained a resilient and legitimate institution. Why is this the case? This study examines the position of the chieftaincy in a specific locality, namely the Mzinyathi settlement in eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal. The study sets out to explore how and why the Mzinyathi chieftaincy maintains its legitimacy in the present-day era. The study makes use of four existing theories that seek to explain the resilience of the chieftaincy. Keulder et al. (1998) argue that the chieftaincy continues to wield authority because the state lacks the necessary capacity to fulfill its everyday duties. Mamdani (1999) argues that the chieftaincy embodies no inherent local legitimacy, but only survives because the central state has recognized and institutionalized this institution. Ntsebeza (2005) and Ribot (2001) argue that the chieftaincy’s role in land governance is the main reason for why the chieftaincy has maintained its legitimacy. Ray et al. (1996) argue that the chieftaincy has remained resilient because it is able to derive legitimacy from pre-colonial cultural, political and religious sources. The primary data that this thesis is built on was produced during a two-month long fieldwork in Mzinyathi and Durban. A combination of qualitative methods was applied, including in-depth interviews, participant observation as well as field notes and field conversations. 26 interviews were conducted with Mzinyathi residents, the chief’s headmen, representatives from eThekwini Municipality and representatives from the ward councillor’s office. The empirical findings indicate that the Mzinyathi chieftaincy maintains its legitimacy both because of what the institution means to people (moral legitimacy) and because of what the institution does for people (performance legitimacy). The findings show that the Mzinyathi chieftaincy is, indeed, able to derive legitimacy from pre-colonial cultural, political and religious sources. Moreover, findings also indicate that the Mzinyathi chieftaincy’s role in land governance imbues the institution with legitimacy. Hence, both Ntsebeza and Ribot and Ray et al.’s theoretical explanations are strengthened as a result of this case study. On the other hand, the findings challenge Keulder et al.’s explanation for the resilience of the chieftaincy, since it was found that the state has, in this case, got the necessary capacity to engage in traditional authority areas. The findings furthermore challenge Mamdani’s theory, where he contends that the chieftaincy lacks any real legitimacy on the ground. Contrary to Mamdani’s conception, it was found that the Mzinyathi chieftaincy does embody local legitimacy, and is able to derive legitimacy from sources that are not linked to the central state’s authority. | eng |