The man’s movements were
deliberate as he took the microphone at the recent land tenure summit in
Boksburg.
“Minister, we support
this summit,” he said. “We, the labour tenants on the farms, feel the pressing
hard sole of the farmers on our backs. We, who are dragged on the backs of
bakkies, without protection … many of us know no other home. Our parents gave
their labour as we give ours. Must our children suffer the same fate? There is
no political will to ensure that the laws are adhered to, there are no
mechanisms to ensure labour tenants are treated as human beings.
“We are not farm
‘workers’ or ‘dwellers’, we are labour tenants. In Limpopo, where I come from,
we have no rights. Farm owners have built game reserves around us. To live in
the reserve, we have to report to them … we must sign in and out. I stand here,
in front of this gathering, as a man who is not fully a man. I still do not
have full control of my movements. I cannot protect my family.”
In a few minutes, this
elder had cut through the political and academic jargon and laid bare the
reality experienced by many. His was a poignant reminder that the majority
remain landless and without security. The slight tremor in his voice could not
be hidden by his forcefulness. His experiences echoed those of many in the room.
The background to his
speech is that the department of rural development has still not processed the
claims made under the Labour Tenants Act of 1996. Litigation is now under way
to force the government to implement their rights.
When the summit broke
into commissions to consider separate aspects of the issue, many struggled to
get beyond narratives of pain and dehumanised living conditions. People seemed
stuck in the catharsis of speaking about their experiences. To imagine
solutions was not impossible – but first they wanted to tell their hidden
stories.
They wanted to force
those gathered in the commissions to see and hear them without the protective
layer of “policy speak”. This is their life, one without rights – a life of
constant struggle to eke out a living and hold on to personal dignity.
Traditional leaders of
different hues and statures took umbrage at the suggestion that the land
belongs to the people. For them, this assertion by the government is an attempt
to remove their powerful “custodianship”, which for many means control over
land, people and resources.
“The minister says we are
figureheads with no powers,” said one traditional leader. “He says we have no
executive authority over our land … The minister says we have moral authority.
What does that mean? It means we are mere figureheads. This is not acceptable
to us. This is wrong.”
Voices from the floor
pushed back. As one delegate put it: “We live under iNgonyama Trust. We live
under amakhosi [chiefs] in KwaZulu-Natal. We have no security. Other women and
I work the land for our living and business. I ask you, Mhlonishwa [MEC Cyril
Vusumzi Xaba], to point to one development that has been undertaken by
iNgonyama Trust in the vast land under its control. Show me one project that they
run for the benefit of the people.
“We need mechanisms such
as papers [titles and status confirmation] to protect us. This is the age of
formal documentation. Our issue is not the powers of traditional leaders. We
respect them and accept their presence. But we want to exercise our rights in
communal areas, too. Sesakhululeka, angithi [Isn’t it that we are free today]?”
The Khoi and the San
leaders in the room had different but equivalent concerns.
One argued: “First, this
meeting should have been for traditional leaders only. These [civic]
organisations … should not be here. The historical overview provided by the MEC
is impressive.
“Unfortunately, it
excludes the Khoi and the San. We want to be recognised as people of this land.
How can this history erase us? I agree with the traditional leader who spoke:
the minister cannot define what our role is. We are traditional leaders and own
the land. We are not just custodians.”
Another had a differently
nuanced view: “We do not all want land. We do not want to control people. But
we want to be recognised. We want to be treated with the dignity we deserve.
The government must treat us all equally. We need to have further discussions
on these things.”
The complex relationship
between traditional authorities and communal property associations with
land-owning rights recognised by law also came under scrutiny. Some said the
associations should not be allowed, but others rejected this argument. And the
government’s failure to provide support and guidance to the associations was
strongly criticised.
Land intersects with a
number of issues: identity, layers of authority and the economy. It is here, in
the crevices of these intersections, that the granularity of lived experience,
the unfinished business of democratisation, citizenship, personhood and the
contradictions of our history and the present are laid bare.
The summit took place
against the backdrop of the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act, signed
into law in May. The Act allows people another five years to claim land lost
under colonial rule and apartheid.
The issue of the vast
areas some traditional leaders say they will claim – and the related costs –
hung over the summit. Where will the money come from? Whose claims will be
given priority?
The summit brought to the
surface an interesting but deeply troubling legacy of South African history.
The struggles of rural people have been muffled. There is a stubborn refusal to
see the connections of rural struggles to the larger struggles for
transformation in South Africa.
The country has a long
tradition of resistance, expressed not only in sporadic moments such as the
Mpondo revolt. These struggles have a context and a history; they are
underpinned by the yearning to be part of a common South Africa – as seen in
the struggles against forced removals.
It is urgent that all
these land questions be addressed. The time has come for all the people
affected by land issues to be treated equally. When the government and other
powerful players recognise this, South Africa will be able to move forward and
address land questions justly and fairly.
