This dissertation critically examines how traditional leaders use cultural laws to allocate land to women and to allow women to participate in land administration in communal areas. Given the government's commitment to gender equity in all spheres of life as stipulated in Section 9 (3) of the South African Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), the dissertation examines whether related legislation and policy (such as CLARA and TLGFA) alone can guarantee equitable access to land for women and their participation in land administration structures in communal areas where patriarchy dominates. In essence, the study interrogates whether state intervention through formalizing laws that govern land matters do achieve gender equity while cultural laws still exist in communal areas. Based on the view that land in communal areas is held by the state and administered by traditional leaders who have historically discriminated against women, the dissertation employs a case study method to examine whether cultural laws are exercised when women apply for a piece of land at the three levels of traditional authority viz: village, sub-village and traditional council levels in the Matolweni village of the Nqadu Tribal Authority. Although women are often the de facto rights holders in rural areas as a result of male migration to urban areas, findings seem to indicate that it is difficult and/or sometimes impossible to translate paper laws into practice while cultural laws are still operating. For effective transformation to occur, the study recommends that unless a strong women's rural movement emerges, coupled with a socialist feminist position that advocates for a radical transformation of rural society to defeat the patriarchal norms and standards, traditional leaders will continue to discriminate against women in land issues.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Public Administration)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / Refer to document

In South Africa, racial discrimination was witnessed through renowned segregationist acts including the Group Areas Act (No:41) of 1950, which forcibly displaced families from their homes and triggered significant social upheavals and the callous disintegration of long-established communities such as Sophiatown. The removals were a political strategy to relocate so-called “non-white” people from the inner city to townships such as Meadowlands explicitly chosen for their hazardous impure land known as mine dumps (Rodgers 1980:76). These displacements had a paradox of intergenerational homelessness triggered by instrumental racism that influenced politics of space and in effect, the disarticulation of the lives of black South Africans (Milgroom and Ribotc 2019:184). Therefore, it is important to undertake a study investigating the circumstances that gave rise to these forced removals, the subsequent breakdown of social order, a typical consequence of population relocation, which merits an examination of the contemporary implications and ramifications of disarticulation and highlights, in this regard, some significant shortcomings in post-Apartheid governance. / Anthropology and Archaeology / M.A. (Anthropology)

Institute for Rural Development / MRDV

MSCAEC / Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness

MSCAEC / Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness

Institute for Rural Development / MRDV

MRDV / Institute for Rural Development / The study was carried out to assess the community-perceived determinants of access to land for development in Mutale Local Municipality. It was conducted in the Makuya and Mutele Traditional Authority areas of the former Mutale Local Municipality. All the views relating to access to land for housing, agriculture and business development expressed during the Vhembe District Land Development Summits and Forum meetings held in 2008, 2010 and 2014 were consolidated. Using this information, a questionnaire comprising entirely closed-ended answers requiring responses on a Likert-type scale of 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree) was prepared. The questionnaire was administered through focus group discussions in community workshops during which youth (male and female), women, men and community leaders were the respondents. Open-ended questions were also administered focusing on the factors hindering or enabling access to land, and solutions that the community perceived needed to be taken. Mean and mode for each response were calculated. Chi-Square tests for association were conducted to determine whether there was any association in the responses obtained from the traditional authority areas. Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were conducted to determine the level of agreement of perceptions respondents with Vhembe district land development summits resolutions among youth, adults and community leaders. There were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) in perception of issues relating to access to land for housing, agriculture and business development of land development. Thus, the issues are real and should form a solid basis for planning interventions that might unlock access to land for different types of uses. Moreover, improving transparency and deepening community participation and consultation over classification and sale of unoccupied land could minimise the likelihood of potential land conflict.

MENVSC / Department of Ecology and Resource Management / This study uses lens to understand conflict over the use of land and its resources in the Mapungubwe area. The main underlying assumption of the study is that various land use activities that are not compatible with each other lead to land use conflict. The aim of the study is to assess land use conflict in the Mapungubwe area. In particular, the study intends to find out the historical and contemporary land-use conflict, compare and contrast the historical conservation objectives with the current conservation objectives in the Mapungubwe area, find out the reasons that made farmers to oppose conservation objectives now and in the 1940s and to investigate the effects of historical and contemporary land use conflict in the Mapungubwe area. In order to achieve these objectives, primary and secondary data were collected. Secondary data that was used included historical documents about Mapungubwe, Hansards or House of Assembly debates of South Africa from 1940 to 1948, newspapers articles, books and journal articles. Secondary data were used to find out the historical land use conflict that took place in the Mapungubwe area. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with private game farmers, commercial irrigation farmers, farm workers (former and current), Mapungubwe National Park officials and land claimants. Field observations were used to corroborate information collected through interviews. Primary data were collected in order to find out the contemporary land use conflict taking place in the Mapungubwe area. The main findings of this study are that land use conflict in Mapungubwe area is not new; rather it started in the 1940s when the United Party government intended to establish the Dongola Wildlife Sanctuary. However, the idea of a wildlife sanctuary led to land use conflict, particularly between farmers and the ruling United Party government. In other words, land use conflict was mainly among conservationists (who were members of United Party) and farmers. Unfortunately, the idea of a wildlife sanctuary in the Mapungubwe area was caught up in political battles between the governing United Party and the opposition National Party that eventually led to its abandonment following the electoral victory of the National Party in the general elections of 1948. The study also found that the contemporary Mapungubwe is also affected by land use conflict. The conflict is mainly because of various land use activities including irrigation farming, game farming, mining, settlement, and land claims that are not compatible with conservation. Land use activities including irrigation and ii game farming, settlement and mining are happening within and around Mapungubwe National Park. This has made it difficult to consolidate the core area of Mapungubwe National Park. As a result, although Mapungubwe National Park has been established in 1995, the park remains fragmented. This study has used Mapungubwe as a case study to demonstrate that the interest over land and its resources in an area by various stakeholders create land use conflict. / NRF

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Rural development problems faced by the impoverished communities in the Transkei, South Africa, are numerous, and environmental degradation has already taken much of its toll. By working at a micro-catchment-level both the socio-economic and biophysical appreciation of the land resources were captured as encapsulated in the concept of resource management domains. Participatory decision-making allowed functional land use goals and evaluation criteria to be incorporated into computerised multi-criteria evaluation and multi-objective land use allocation models in order to reach an idealised or more sustainable land use situation. In the execution of the decision-making process seven procedural steps were followed, which are discussed in detail and applied in the case study. Synthesis of the results emphasised the envisaged rural planning potential of the methods used. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In terme van plattelandse ontwikkeling staar talle probleme die behoeftige gemeenskappe van Transkei, Suid-Afrika, in die gesig en omgewingsdegradering neem ongehinderd sy tol. Deur op ‘n mikro-opvangsgebied vlak te werk kon beide die sosio-ekonomiese en biofisiese waarde van die gebied se hulpbronne bepaal word en uitgebeeld word in hulpbron bestuursdomeine. Deur deelnemende besluitneming is funksionele grondgebruiksdoelwitte en evaluasie kriteria gebruik in gerekenariseerde meervoudige kriteria evaluering en veeldoelige grondgebruiksaanwysingsmodelle ten einde die ideale of ‘n meer volhoubare grondgebruik situasie te verkry. Vir die uitvoering van die besluitnemingsproses is van sewe opeenvolgende stappe gebruik gemaak en die uitvoering daarvan word in diepte bespreek in hierdie gevallestudie. Sintese van die resultate het die potensiaal van hierdie beoogde landelike beplanningsmetodes beklemtoon.