The “law of the Jungle” Is Not Lawlessness after All: an Assessment of Governance as Portrayed in the Ndebele Folktales

Whoever came up with the adage, “the law of the jungle”, seems not to have taken time to assess the behavior of the animals in relation to social and political governance as well as their application of the rule of law. The statement is meant to suggest that there is chaos and disorder in the forest so much so that things happen haphazardly. On the contrary, it is more apparent in most African folktales that the animal world has always been, as it continues to be, characterised by an orderly system of governance as well as rule of law compared to their human counterparts. The socio-political structure which prevails in the animal community clearly reflects an orderly system of governance where the bigger and braver assume political authority and social responsibility. The small but witty also assume the role of advisors and keep checks and balances on power abuse while the rest are innocent but faithful followers. This paper seeks to interrogate Ndebele folktales with the view to demonstrate that animals have an orderly socio-political hierarchy which can be emulated by humans in order to preserve their national heritages which are under threat. © 2014 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved.