African
Journals Online
African Journal on Conflict Resolution
Volume 1, Number 1, 2000
Abstracts
Traditions of conflict resolution in South
Africa
Choudree, R.B.G.
Abstract: In the domain of law, and elsewhere, alternative
dispute resolution can be used in more than one way. It may signify a
recognition that there are other methods than litigation, and that
these may sometimes be more appropriate. But it may also serve as a
label for methods which are frowned upon as popular but amateurish.
This article is written from the perspective that the deep roots and
valid reasons for tradi- tional conflict resolution methods and
customs should be taken seriously. They form part of time- proven
social systems, in which the objective is usually more than just
settling a case. Such methods, whether they include more adjudication
or more mediation, are especially oriented towards reconciliation and
the maintenance or even improvement of social relationships.
Representative examples from a few South African societies are
discussed, as well as the current situation of Western and customary
law, modern courts and tribal courts, legal professionals and
traditional leaders. Possibilities for the future are pointed out, in
an increasingly urbanised South Africa, but a South Africa with a new
Constitution..methods of tribal courts resemble in some respect those
of councillors in our own society, they approximate more to the
methods of our courts. They are authoritative. ( Gluckman 1965: 187)
The importance of the process, therefore, lies in the goal it has set
itself and that, invariably, is to restore a balance, to settle
conflict and eliminate disputes. One of the most important features
distinguishing between western and African processes of dispute
settlement is the manner in which the social relationships between the
parties involved in the respective processes are treated. Nader and
Todd, referring to the analysis adopted by Gluckman, argue that these
relationships are either simplex or multiplex. The relationship
determines the procedural form of the attempt at settlement and thus
determines the outcome of the dispute ( Nader & Todd 1978: 12- 13)
. The ensuing hypothesis is that the parameters of the settlement
process are determined by the nature of the relationships involved.
Accordingly, multiplex relationships depend upon measures of
negotiation or medi |