Traditional leaders in South Africa wield significant public power. They do so under a raft of legislative enactments and also as a matter of customary law. When other organs of state exercise legislative power, they are subject to the prescripts of administrative law – they must always act lawfully and rationally, and, where their conduct constitutes administrative action under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000, they must also act reasonably and in a way that is procedurally fair. Our law reports are replete with cases of organs of state being held to these standards. Yet there is a surprising paucity of case law or literature on the administrative law obligations of traditional leaders. This article explores the potential for administrative law to hold traditional power to account and confronts the challenges of such an approach. It suggests that administrative law offers a means by which to ensure greater accountability and transparency on the part of traditional leaders while at the same time recognising traditional forms of governance and social organisation.

南非的传统领导人具有重要的公共权力。它们是根据一系列成文法和习惯法来这样做的。当其他国家机关行使立法权时，它们必须遵守行政法的规定–必须始终合法合理地行事，并且，根据2000年《行政司法法》第3条，其行为构成行政行为时，它们还必须行事合理地并且在程序上是公平的。我们的法律报告充斥着符合这些标准的国家机关案件。然而，关于传统领导人的行政法义务的判例法或文献很少，令人惊讶。本文探讨了行政法掌握传统权力的可能性，并面临这种方法的挑战。它表明，行政法提供了一种手段，可确保传统领导人加强问责制和透明度，同时承认传统形式的治理和社会组织。