It is widely acknowledged that urban areas in the African continent have witnessed a resurgence of traditional authorities. No matter how contentious their role under the colonial and apartheid systems of government was, the Constitution of the new South Africa (1996) recognised traditional authorities and afforded them opportunities for a political resurgence. This is occurring in a period of rapid urban growth especially in peri-urban areas within the sphere of extended urbanisation. While municipal governance attempts to control urban growth using legal and planning instruments, traditional authorities are shaping the location, direction, and expansion of urban growth through customary systems of tenure rights and responsibilities. This chapter uses the case of Thembisile Hani Local Municipality (THLM), a peri-urban area in the Mpumalanga Region, South Africa, to discuss the factors shaping the transformation of territorial governance under traditional authority in peri-urban areas and the associated spatial implications for urban change. The central argument of the chapter is that the changing status of traditional authorities and their integration into global/economic dynamics of urban change have made them counterparts in shaping urban transformation, especially in peri-urban areas.