Blogs
Read papers | Read news | View photographs
Conference takes vox pop on land issues
Stellenbosch University blog
Public opinion took centre stage at one of the many morning sessions on the last day of Land Divided 2013, a conference hosted by Stellenbosch University (SU), the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of the Western Cape (UWC) at UCT this week.
Charl Swart, a graduate student at Stellenbosch, presented findings from three recent studies on South Africans’ opinions on land reform. The biggest difference, Swart showed, were between black and white South Africans’ opinions on whether landowners who dispute land claims are racist, or a barrier to transformation. Interestingly, the same studies showed little disparity in opinion between these groups when posed with another scenario: whether landowners who dispute land claims by going to court are fairly using their rights afforded to them by the Constitution. (They are, both groups agreed.)
Read more...
Beleidskwessie kan Suid-Afrika pootjie
Stellenbosch University blog
At the plenary session, Professor Timm Hoffman, director of UCT’s Plant Conservation Unit, gave an overview of the changing patterns of rural land use and land cover in South Africa over the past 100 years, explaining that human activity, together with a decrease of livestock in certain areas, has triggered dramatic changes in the landscapes. In turn, Professor Maano Ramutsindela, also of UCT, talked of the difficult-to-reach balance between global conservation strategies and the demands of land reform. “In order to preserve biodiversity, we need to connect,” he said. Professor Jacklyn Cock of Wits University then had the audience at the edge of their seats with her talk on The Green Economy: A sustainable development path or a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’, arguing that the green economy, which she described as the “financialisation” of the functions of nature, is merely another tool to benefit the world’s major industries. And, drawing the plenary to a close, Professor Phil Woodhouse of the University of Manchester spoke on an emerging trend brought on by land redistribution and restitution – that of the move from farming in the classical sense to one of farm management.
Read more...
South Africa’s land issues take centre stage at high-profile conference
Stellenbosch University blog
Giving voice to a range of understandings about land, the conference addresses not just the legacy of the 1913 Land Act, but also the history of dispossession pre-dating the act; explorations of land reform and agrarian policy in southern Africa; papers on identity, rights and belonging; and analysis of the ecological challenges around South African land.
Read more...
‘Land Divided’ Conference hailed a success
Stellenbosch University blog
The recently concluded (24-27 March 2013) “Land Divided” Conference – a joint initiative of Stellenbosch University (SU), the University of Cape Town and the University of the Western Cape – has been hailed a success. The Conference succeeded in bringing together not only national and international scholars in different fields, including anthropology, sociology, history, law, agricultural economics, politics, literature and the visual arts, but also community-based organisations and NGOs working on land issues, along with government representatives.
Read more...
Commemorating the 1913 Land Act in a Land Divided
PLAAS blog
One hundred years ago, it was declared illegal for native South Africans to acquire land outside scheduled native areas, reserves which had been demarcated by the new Union Parliament and covered only a small fraction of the country. This short piece of legislature, the 1913 Natives Land Act, played a crucial role in the racial segregation of South Africa’s rural economy during the twentieth century and the separation of many of its people from the land and from farming. To mark the Act’s centenary, an international conference was held in Cape Town from 24 to 27 March 2013. Its organisers, from the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and the Western Cape, set themselves the task of exploring the land question in South African society and different ways of thinking about land as a social, economic and natural resource.
Read more...
Read papers | Read news | View photographs