Traditional leadership of Namibia

Acceptance of a traditional authority is vested in the Government of Namibia, executed by the minister of Urban and Rural Development.

For a traditional leader to be accepted by government, they must be appointed according to the customary law of their clan, without major disputes about their current reign.

[1] They also take over judicial work through traditional courts, offering a way to access compensation through civil law that does not require fees or lawyers.

Traditional fines are thus, in the words of justice minister Yvonne Dausab, meant "to wipe off tears", and not to replace criminal proceedings.

The traditional court of the Oorlam people at Vaalgras in Namibia's south, where there are few communal cattle farmers, fines three goats for theft.