The politics of land in Levubu, Northern Province c.1935-1998

Nefale, Mukondeleli Michael

The politics of land in Levubu, Northern Province c.1935-1998

Master Thesis

2000

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Historical Studies

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

This thesis explores the development of capitalist agriculture and apartheid in the Levubu settlement, in the Northern Province. Capitalist agriculture was characterised by the quest for fertile land for white farmers while, at the same time, dispossessing indigenous communities. Land as the country's main political and economic resource has been manipulated to control people. The thesis shows how a system of political oppression has been used to deny indigenous communities access to viable land and water by different white supremacist governments. The study examines how white settlers in Levubu were helped by the state in the development of commercial farming. In such an endeavour, a black landless working class was created. The material conditions of the white beneficiaries of the settlement are contrasted with those of the dispossessed blacks. The material conditions of the black population, both in the ""homelands"", and on the white farms, were characterised by poverty and overcrowding. On the other hand, white farmers were reaping enormous profits by producing food for local and international markets. The struggle for survival between white landowners and the landless blacks is the product of 20th century racialised capitalist development in the Levubu countryside. The last part of the study looks at the new democratic government of South Africa and its endeavour to redress the unequal distribution of wealth created by the apartheid regime. It focuses on the market approach which has been adopted to deliver a better life for all, and it examines how such an approach shows continuities with past injustices.

Description

Bibliography: leaves 75-82.

Keywords

History

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