Eastern Cape premier, Phumulo Masualle, has lost his appeal in the Bhisho High Court against an earlier court ruling giving the Cala Reserve Community the right to appoint their own headman.
Legal Resources Centre attorney, Wilmien Wicomb, hailed Tuesday's court ruling as a victory for the fighting people of Cala Reserve and all other rural people resisting the undemocratic imposition of headman and other unelected 'tribal leaders' from above.
She says the appeal by Masualle against an earlier court ruling in favour of the Cala Reserve Community was decided by a full bench.
Wicomb says this is significant as she says no single judge in any court in South Africa can overturn this decision.
She says it sad that in a democratic South Africa, the courts had to intervene to prevent the government from denying the people of Cala Reserve their democratic right to elect their own headman.
Wicombe says once more, the appeal by Premier Masualle demonstrates how the state is increasingly acting in ways that rolls back the democratic gains of 1994 which she says is a worrying trend.
"This precedent-setting case is important for rural democracy throughout the Eastern Cape province and South Africa as a whole. It exposes how some of the traditional governance laws passed by government effectively retribalises the countryside and minimises rural democracy. Ultimately, the judgment shows that rural governance will never be the same again. It challenges the skewed power balance characterised by the lack of consultation of rural people that we have witnessed over the past 15 years bolstered by government legislation," Wicomb said.
"This case is an example of the victories that can be won when rural people are mobilised, organised and ready to take action to defend, protect advance their democratic rights. It is a victory against narrow interpretations of customary law that deny the agency and power of people over their leaders. It is a victory to be claimed and celebrated by those who believe in a "living customary law" that is responsive to the needs of rural people."
