South Africa: Traditional Courts Bill out of step

New laws governing traditional courts could strip 22-million rural South Africans - and women in particular - of some of their most basic rights. The Traditional Courts Bill, on which public comment closed this week, aims to set a framework whereby customary courts will have legal clout. Civic organisations have slammed it as being unconstitutional, but traditional leaders argue that the Bill has been grossly misinterpreted by civil society.