The Tribal Constitution

The administrative system of the Tswana is founded upon the principle of delegated responsibility. At the head of the whole tribe is the Chief. He is assisted in the execution of his duties by various forms of council. In effect the government of the tribe is ultimately concentrated in the hands of the Chief; but the existing social and territorial organization is used to delegate matters of more purely local concern to subordinate authorities. The practice of polygamy, with its attendant complications of ranking and &s;raising seed&s;, gave ample scope for intrigues and dispute about succession to the Chieftainship. A Chief&s;s wives were drawn mostly from the families, either of his own close relatives, or of the Chiefs of neighbouring tribes, or of influential headmen of his own tribe. When a Chief dies, his death is publicly announced to the tribe. In former times the Chief was generally buried in the great cattle-kraal adjoining the tribal kgotla .

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