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

PhDRDV / Institute for Rural Development

MSCAEC / Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness

MSCAEC / Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness

Institute for Rural Development / MRDV

MSc (Microbiology) / Department of Microbiology / See the attached abstract below

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.