Some anthropologists and sociologists have contended that, when a society undergoes a process of acculturation, the material aspects of the culture will often undergo more change than the non-material aspects. However, within the realm of non-material culture, a differentiation should be drawn between these ú aspects of thc culture, which, by their nature, are able to retain a certain degree of immunity from the material changes, and those, such as law and government, which are inextricably linked to the transformation being undergone at the material evel, since the law is not only embedded in the moral and social context of the society but designed also to serve the material needs of that society. Where the disparity between the material and the non-material aspects of the society expands, the legal structure, as the mediating force, is liable to be undermined, its logical consistency invalidated, and its moral influence challenged. An analysis is made of the problems encountered by the legal systems of the African tribes in South Africa as a consequence of their prolonged and intensive contacts with the culture of the Europeans who have settled in that area. Despite a degree of official recognition of the tribal law, it has lost its original basis as the impact of a Western society leads to changes in both the substantive and procedural areas. Certain areas of the law are examined to gauge the nature of these changes. One of the key problems encountered in the administration of law in South Africa is determining whether or not to apply the tribal law in a particular situation. In civil law, two of the issues that have caused most problems are polygamous marriages and dowry payments, while in the criminal law the differing approaches to the law and the differing standards for determining guilt have presented difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]