The Politics of Land Reform: Tenure and Political Authority in Rural Kwazulu‐Natal

Abstract

When South Africa's land reform programme finally reached rural Umbumbulu, a potential for conflict over land emerged unexpectedly. Strategically located near a major urban centre, residents of this region have long relied on wages and social welfare grants. Land was valued primarily for residential security and as a symbolic representation of community membership, rather than for productive purposes. This emphasis on community membership, however, created the potential for conflict when a local chief challenged a civil society group over their authority to claim land. With the government's continued hesitancy to challenge the authority of chiefs, land reform provided an opportunity for local chiefs to reinforce their position and potentially to expand the amount of land under their jurisdiction. This agenda conflicted both with the government's interest in developing commercial agriculture and local residents’ desire for rural land as security in the context of high levels of unemployment.

Is Corporate Political Activity an Investment or Agency? An Application of System GMM Approach

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Whose security? Deepening social conflict over ‘customary’ land in the shadow of land tenure reform in Malawi

“…the Chewa and Ngoni ‘paramounts’) to call for a House of Chiefs in the name of ‘tradition’. The debate about the role of chiefs and chiefship is (re)engaging many in other countries of Southern Africa (for example, Beall et al 2005; Mathis 2007; Ntsebeza 2005).…”

Chiefs and the Politics of Land Reform in the North East District, Botswana, 2005–2008

“…In Botswana, as in most African countries, the land question dominates national and local politics (Lund, 2008: 10). In much of Africa, traditional authorities/leaders/chiefs are in conflict with the ruling political elite over their diminishing powers and role in land administration (Kalabamu, 2011: 126–131; Mathis, 2007: 99–120; Ntsebeza, 2005: 14). In post-apartheid South Africa, for instance, the ‘legitimacy of traditional authorities is very much associated with their position in and control of the land allocation process at the local village and Tribal Authority levels’ (Ntsebeza, 2005: 14).…”