Introduction

With respect to the governance of rural communities like Msinga, scholars have depicted the ways in which the legitimacy of traditional leadership is in question after having been co-opted, distorted, and undermined by the apartheid government. A well-researched aspect of the political economy of rural areas like Msinga relates to prevailing notions of masculinity and femininity. In terms of the imposed migrant labour system, black men were required to leave their families for six months to two years at a time in order to go and work for the mines, farms and industries that provided their employment. The economic crash left men unemployed and women predominantly responsible for child-rearing. The chapter presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the book. The book discusses the relationships between the forums, placing particular focus on the ways that the South African Police Service uneasily fits into the picture of vernacular dispute management.