Leadership & Management in the Times Like These Towards a Relevant and Responsive Leadership for Responsible Citizenship Dr. Sandile S. Mbokazi and Mr. Dumisani Mbokazi 17th International EMASA Conference Southern Sun, Newlands, Cape Town 02-04 September 2016

Introduction Central to the theme are questions of relevance and responsiveness. Relevant leaders are leaders whose biographies, educational philosophies and dispositions are geared towards establishing culturally responsive and empowering relationships with diverse members of the community and their schools. Responsive leaders are active and conscious leaders that identify the needs of their communities and use their understanding of those needs to help fulfil them. Factors that scholars align with culturally responsive leadership include democracy, planning, context-responsiveness, strategising, and relationality. This paper locates traditional leaders as relevant and responsive leaders in relation to school development, safety and security, cultural development and nation-building. Then the conclusion is drawn it terms of the implications for policy and practice.

Responsiveness of Traditional Leadership This looks at relevance and responsiveness of traditional leaders in two ways… School development, safety and security. Cultural development and nation building or promoting responsible citizenship.

School Development, Safety and Security Traditional leaders, while custodians of land, have pioneered the building of schools and additional classrooms. This has been linked to their notion of school ownership. They often led crucial dialogues with relevant stakeholders to support relevant school development. They have promoted the sharing of financing school development ventures between government and local communities. Promoted safe places for teaching and learning.

Cultural Development and Nation Building The South African Constitution positions traditional leaders are seen as custodians of culture (which is linked to indigenous knowledge) The value of indigenous knowledge systems is that they could promote the construction of empowering knowledge that would enhance communities’ meaningful participation in their own development. Drawing from ways in which the African culture values pregnancy in marriage settings, traditional leaders teach children to respect sex as a way to fight against teenage pregnancy. Traditional leaders have lead cultural identity campaigns to promote sexual purity, and acceptable conduct among boys and girls, while emphasising the importance of valuing their home language. To achieve this, they have worked with the relevant sector departments and stakeholders

Conclusion Traditional leaders, as custodians of land, culture, and indigenous education knowledge systems, have created platforms for deliberative democracy with relevant stakeholders in their communities. They have supported school development, safety, security, as well as cultural development and nation building in their communities, despite multiple accountability scenarios that school-communities grapple with. They have played their roles in direct response to the needs of their communities, though mobilising resources, and creating structures wherein strategic conversations would be facilitated. With their significant policy awareness, traditional leaders make seasoned contributions to leading their communities, and have identified policy gaps that needs to be filled to allow them to contribute meaningfully to development.