Skip to main content
Menu
♥ Donate
eventREF E-0012709Revised

Event record

The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) is launched

The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) is launched

Date
24 Sep 1987
Updated
30 Sep 2019
The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) is launched

The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) is launched to articulate the interests of Traditional Leaders and act as an extra-parliamentary opposition movement. Contralesa was largely set up by Moutse Traditional Leaders, opposed to KwaNdebele Independence. The movement aligned itself with the African National Congress and the United Democratic Front. By the time that Contralesa was launched nationally in 1989, the Traditonal Leaders part of the organisation had become one of the ANC's most important rural partners.  After the demise of Apartheid, Contralesa campaigned for the constitutional recognition of the status, role, and powers of traditional leaders in the new democratic South Africa. As a result, Chapter 12 was drafted onto the South African constitution.

Search events by date

What happened on your birthday?
View more events from this day

How we know this

  1. 01Oomen, B (2005), Chiefs in South Africa: law, power & culture in the post-apartheid era, New York: Palgrave Division of St. Martin's Press.
  2. 02nelsonmandela,' Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa',[online],Available at www.nelsonmandela.org[Accessed: 13 September 2013]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) is launched. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012709

South African History Online (2011) 'The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) is launched', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012709 (Accessed: 2 August 2026).

South African History Online, The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) is launched [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012709, (accessed 2 August 2026).

"The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) is launched." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012709. Accessed 2 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) is launched." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012709.

Further reading

SAHO is free because readers fund it. Donate →