Reconciling living customary law and democratic decentralisation to ensure women’s land rights security
Abstract
The recent Constitutional Court
judgment rendering the Communal
Land Rights Act (CLARA) unconstitutional
(Tongoane and Others v Minister
for Agriculture and Land Affairs and
Others) must not be allowed to throw
decentralisation policy making into
disarray. Decentralisation holds much
potential for lively, participatory democratic
law making and enforcement,
through which rural women can gain
greater power and secure more rights.
However, there are many challenges in
the often fraught context of decentralised
law and power.