South Africa’s Land Ownership System as a Barrier to Social Transformation

Land Conflict and the Forced Displacement of Black Farm Dweller Families

Bibliographic Data

ID22185124
AuthorsNancy Andrew (corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume243
Pages199-231
Publication date2020-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueRevue internationale des études du développement (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2554-3415 • E-ISSN: 2554-3555
PublisherOpenEdition (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3917/ried.243.0233
OpenAlexW3088959957
LanguageEN
References cited13

Racially based land ownership continues to create conflict, and like the capitalist system it anchors, has blocked meaningful social transformation since the end of formal apartheid. Failed land reform is partly a reflection of global processes increasingly shaping dynamics within South Africa and other countries, accelerating the concentration of land ownership and agriculture, with a sharp downward effect on the rural poor. Through the prism of the extensive displacement of farm labour families from white commercial farms, based on two periods of research since 1996, the article looks at the social relations of property and production, as well as the conflicts between owners and farm labour – labour tenants and farmworkers. They centre on farm owners’ strong opposition to tenure reform and land rights, illustrating not only the social impact but the barriers to change that these relations help to maintain

Agriculture · Archaeology · Business · Development economics · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economic system · Economics · Environmental planning · Geography · Land tenure · Social change · Social transformation · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Land Rights and Reforms · Legal Issues in South Africa

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