Customary law and traditional leadership in South Africa derive their force and authority from the Constitution and are subject to the Constitution. I The Constitutional Court's adoption and development of the concept of 'living Customary law' is radical in its conception and in its Consequences for equality and democratisation. It is now established that customary law evolves and develops to meet the changing needs of the communities in which it is embedded. Evidence of contemporary local practice is therefor a central element in determining the specific content of customary law. The customary-law rules accepted and enforced during the era of colonialism and apartheid may have been inappropriate, outdated, ossified or simply wrong. Textbooks and earlier judgments are therefore not automatically to be accepted as binding precedent: they are to be looked at critically. The customary law is looked at not in the abstract but in relation to its consequences — for example, inequality. And there may be a divergence between Statutory traditional leadersh- and Customary traditional leadership. All of this represents a radical constitutional project.