Apartheid Era Financial Legacy: Limpopo Announces R31.85m Traditional Levy Payout

Polokwane, South Africa — More than three decades after South Africa dismantled apartheid, its former homeland system financial legacy remains unresolved, with the Limpopo government now disbursing millions of rand in accumulated interest and outstanding payments to traditional councils.

The R31.85 million payout announced by Limpopo Premier Dr. Phophi Ramathuba on 30 October 2026 represents another chapter in a complicated financial history involving traditional levies, inherited government accounts and years of administrative difficulties that followed the country's transition to democracy.

At the centre of the development are funds held in Traditional Levies and Trust Accounts dating back to the former administrations of Lebowa, Gazankulu and Venda, whose financial arrangements were inherited by the democratic provincial government.

The announcement comes less than two years after South Africa's Constitutional Court struck down legislation allowing traditional councils in Limpopo to impose compulsory levies on residents, ruling that the power to impose taxes belongs to democratically elected legislative authorities.

Premier Ramathuba described the payments as the fulfilment of commitments made during an earlier engagement with traditional leaders in Mokopane.

"I have always insisted that when a democratic government makes a commitment to its people, it must honour that commitment without fail.

"Today, I am especially pleased that we can present concrete results, including crucial stop-gap measures to undo the negative impacts of previous court rulings regarding community levies," she said.

The premier said R30.7 million in accumulated interest was being distributed to traditional councils across Limpopo following a comprehensive verification, audit and allocation exercise.

A further R1.13 million in approved outstanding claims involving traditional councils in Bushbuckridge was also being settled following a joint verification process.

Bushbuckridge historically formed part of Limpopo before provincial boundary changes placed it under Mpumalanga.

A financial inheritance from apartheid's homelands

The origins of the traditional levy accounts lie in the administrative structures established under apartheid, when black South Africans were divided into ethnically designated territories known as homelands or Bantustans.

The Bantu Authorities Act of 1951 laid the foundation for this system, through which the apartheid government sought to administer black communities separately from the rest of the country.

Among the territories relevant to Limpopo's financial history were Lebowa, Gazankulu and Venda.

Laura Phillips, in her 2017 research History of South Africa's Bantustans, notes that Lebowa was established primarily for Northern Sotho-speaking communities, Gazankulu for Tsonga-speaking communities, while Venda became a nominally independent homeland in 1979.

These administrations had their own governing structures, financial arrangements and traditional leadership institutions.

Traditional authorities occupied an important position in local administration, but their relationship with communities was increasingly shaped by the political and administrative demands of the apartheid state.

Before the imposition of colonial and apartheid administrative systems, communities traditionally provided their leaders with contributions, including goods and labour, within customary relationships based on reciprocity.

However, the incorporation of traditional authorities into state structures changed the nature of these arrangements.

In its December 2024 judgment in Mohlaba and Others v Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Others, the Constitutional Court examined this historical transformation, considered expert evidence from Professor Peter Delius, who explained how compulsory levies imposed during the 1980s differed from earlier customary contributions based on community consent and reciprocal obligations.

The distinction would eventually become central to a constitutional dispute over whether traditional councils could legally compel residents to pay money.

The homeland administrations were dissolved and incorporated into the new provincial system following the 1994 democratic transition.

But the political transformation did not automatically resolve their inherited financial records, assets, liabilities and outstanding obligations.

"For many years, funds held in the Traditional Levies and Trust Accounts remained unpaid to their rightful beneficiaries.

"This unfortunate delay was the result of complex historical and administrative legacies dating back to the former homelands of Lebowa, Gazankulu and Venda.

"These funds represent the genuine sacrifices, contributions and aspirations of communities who invested in their own self-reliance and the future of their children," Premier Ramathuba said.

"The people who contributed did so believing their resources would serve their communities. As a democratic administration, we carry the sacred responsibility to protect and honour that trust," she said.

The difficulties surrounding the accounts were not simply a consequence of changing provincial boundaries or the restructuring of government, but also a longstanding public financial management problem.

In its 2013/14 budget speech, Limpopo Provincial Treasury acknowledged that the Traditional Levy Account was a major obstacle to the department obtaining a clean audit outcome.

The problem centred on the inability to verify the opening balances inherited from the former homeland administrations, making it difficult to prepare reliable financial statements.

The Constitutional Court draws the line

While the provincial government was grappling with the inherited accounts, the legal authority of traditional councils to collect compulsory levies was being challenged in court.

The dispute culminated in Mohlaba and Others v Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and Others, case number CCT 07/24, decided by the Constitutional Court on 20 December 2024.

The applicants, residents from communities under different traditional councils in Limpopo, challenged Section 25 of the Limpopo Traditional Leadership and Institutions Act 6 of 2005.

The provision allowed traditional councils, with the Premier's approval, to impose traditional council rates on taxpayers within their jurisdictions.

The litigation, which had been pursued since 2011, raised fundamental questions about the relationship between customary law, traditional leadership and the constitutional rights of residents.

The applicants argued that compulsory levies were being imposed without meaningful community consent and that residents faced adverse consequences for failing to pay.

Evidence before the court described instances in which people were required to pay levies to obtain residential stands, access burial sites, operate businesses and secure administrative documents.

The court also considered evidence of residents being denied proof-of-address letters and other services because of unpaid charges.

Its ruling cleared that the power to impose taxes belongs to democratically elected legislative bodies, not traditional councils.

The Constitutional Court unanimously confirmed the declaration that Section 25 was unconstitutional and invalid.

But the judgment was not a blanket prohibition on all financial contributions to traditional institutions.

The court recognised that voluntary contributions grounded in customary law could continue, provided they were based on consultation and agreement within communities.

Equally important, records show that the judgment did not order the provincial government to refund every levy previously collected or direct it to distribute the R31.85 million now announced.

As the court dealt with the constitutional authority to impose compulsory levies, the current payments concern the administration and settlement of money held in historical levy and trust accounts.

The ruling created an additional challenge for traditional councils that had previously relied on levy collections to support their operations.

Premier Ramathuba acknowledged this financial pressure during an engagement with traditional leaders earlier in the year, 11 March 2026, when she outlined the provincial government's efforts to establish alternative funding arrangements.

Her administration disclosed separate allocations of R20.3 million for traditional council operations and R13.29 million for sitting allowances for council members.

The premier said the funding was intended to support the functioning of traditional institutions following the court ruling.

She also reported progress in verifying the Traditional Levies and Trust Accounts, saying the exercise had been completed without material audit findings.

At the time, interest payments to qualifying beneficiaries were being processed, while engagements with National Treasury continued over the liquidation of remaining investments and the settlement of outstanding balances.

However, the March commitments and October disbursement are not conflated, the operational allocation, sitting allowances and accumulated-interest payments are separate financial measures.

Beyond the payout: Traditional leaders drawn into rural development

The recent Premier Ramathuba's engagement was not confined to historical financial obligations as she also outlined agricultural initiatives intended to position traditional leaders as partners in rural economic development.

Under the Traditional Leaders Livestock Improvement Programme, 13 senior traditional leaders have each received four heifers and a bull.

The programme is intended to improve cattle genetics, she said, strengthen herd health and encourage more commercially oriented livestock production.

Dr. Ramathuba urged other traditional leaders to participate, describing the initiative as an opportunity to transform subsistence farming into sustainable rural enterprises.

She also appealed for their involvement in the Backyard Farming Support Programme, launched approximately a month earlier.

Traditional councils have been asked to work with agricultural extension officers to identify 11 beneficiaries per council, each of whom will receive a R4,000 voucher to purchase essential farming equipment.

"We are equally proud of our collaborative strides in agrarian development. Recently, we enrolled 13 senior traditional leaders in our Traditional Leaders Livestock Improvement Programme, sponsoring each participating volunteer with four heifers and a bull.

"This is a true game-changer for rural economies. By upgrading local stock genetics, improving herd health and instilling modern commercial farming practices among our traditional leaders, we are transforming subsistence farming into sustainable, wealth-generating rural enterprises.," Dr. Ramathuba said on Friday.

"We invite more of you to step forward and join this visionary initiative," she said.

The programmes, she said, broaden the government's engagement with traditional institutions beyond their customary and administrative responsibilities, bringing them into agricultural development and household food-security initiatives.