In this article, I discuss the story of Kgosi Nyalala Pilane of the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela in South Africa as an illustration of the extent to which some traditional leaders have become nearly unaccountable sovereigns in post-colonial South Africa. In particular, I trace the intersection of Kgosi Nyalala’s world with that of neoliberal monopoly capital. This story is based largely on evidence produced before the 2016 Commission of Inquiry into the affairs of the Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela community, which investigated, among other things, how the community’s extraordinary wealth disappeared. I explore how Kgosi Nyalala used the law, and in particular customary law, as an effective shield against attempts to hold him to account and show how, by situating himself in the gap between the ‘corporate’ and the ‘customary’, he was able to evade legal obligations in both spheres. Finally, I argue that Kgosi Nyalala was ultimately able to become a ruler sufficient unto himself because he was enabled by both public and private sector actors who stood to gain from his success.

在本文中，我将讨论南非Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela的Kgosi Nyalala Pilane的故事，以说明一些传统领袖在后殖民时期南非已成为几乎不负责任的主权国家的程度的例证。特别是，我追踪了Kgosi Nyalala的世界与新自由主义垄断资本的世界的交汇点。这个故事主要基于2016年调查委员会对Bakgatla-Ba-Kgafela社区的事务之前产生的证据，该调查研究了该社区的非凡财富如何消失。我将探讨Kgosi Nyalala如何利用法律，尤其是习惯法，来有效地阻止企图追究他的责任，并展示如何通过将自己置于“公司”与“习惯”之间的鸿沟中，他能够逃避这两个领域的法律义务。最后，我认为科戈西·尼亚拉（Kgosi Nyalala）最终能够成为一个足以胜任自己的统治者，因为公共和私营部门演员都为他提供了支持，而后者也将从他的成功中受益。