. Tribal authorities/Traditional Councils were given extensive powers over the lives of the rural people. Submissions by the representatives of rural communities illustrated how rural people, under the current system, are subjected to different kinds of levies by the tribal authorities; for example, the so-called 'car levy' for the chief, development tax, and many other forms of levies and taxes. It emerged that the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2003 perpetuates these structures and their unaccountable powers that were created by the Black Authorities Act, 1951.