According to Tradition
A cultural perspective on current affairs
Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa
ISBN: 978-1-920355-25-8
Pages: 212pp
Dimensions: 280 x 210 mm
R140.00

About this publication

According to Tradition: A cultural perspective on current affairs is an insightful and thought provoking compilation of articles by Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa, drawn largely from his popular columns in the Business Day and Natal Witness. In it, Holomisa provides a compelling indigenous African perspective on contemporary issues and seeks to resurrect traditional values as a framework for an alternative view on South African current affairs.

As Peter Bruce, editor of both the Business Day and The Weekender newspapers, explains, “Phathekile Holomisa is the most eloquent and alert writer on traditional society in South Africa today. He writes beautifully and his book has to be essential to any understanding of how modern South Africa functions.”

The book analyses pertinent issues relating to the state of African customs and traditions in contemporary South Africa and the challenges that the institution of traditional eldership faces in the interpretation and defence of cultural practices. It examines how the nation might benefit from the enhancement of the role of traditional leadership in tackling national challenges like social disintegration and national identity. The various contentious issues – from land redistribution, the dumping of babies, aspirant Black capitalists, and African traditional justice, to the abuse and oppression of women and same-sex marriages – are confronted directly and with candour.

Holomisa challenges the people of modern day South Africa to once again engage with its ancestral roots. He creates a convincing argument that the use of African languages and the recovery of religious and cultural practices – suitably modified for the demands of democracy and gender equity and the promotion of communal ways of life – are prerequisites for a prosperous African continent.

Nkosi Phathekile Holomisa is President of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA (CONTRALESA), and has worked in this leadership role since 1990. He is the traditional leader of amaHegebe in Mqanduli in the Eastern Cape, an advocate, an ANC activist and a MP. He has been one of the traditional leaders who have battled government over the role, powers and functions of traditional leaders in the country’s local government structures during the turn of the 21st Century.

A published author of the book “A Double-Edged Sword”, an account of the evolution of CONTRALESA and its role in ensuring the acceptance of ubukhosi in the democratic South Africa, Holomisa is considered an authority on the question of human rights from the African indigenous perspective.

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