Land Tenure, Land Rights and Land Communities on Swazi
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LAND TENURE, LAND RIGHTS AND LAND COMMUNITIES ON SWAZI NATION LAND IN SWAZILAND: A DISCUSSION OF SOME INTER-RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE TRADITIONAL TENURIAL SYSTEM AND PROBLEMS OF AGRARIAN DEVELOPMENT A. J. B. HUGHES A monograph of the Institution of … Research 1972 LAND TENURE, LAND RIGHTS AND LAND COMMUNITIES ON SWAZI NATION LAND IN SWAZILAND: A DISCUSSION OF SOME INTER-RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE TRADITIONAL TENURIAL SYSTEM AND PROBLEMS OF AGRARIAN DEVELOPMENT. ___________________________ BY ARTHUR JOHN BRODIE HUGHES INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF NATAL DURBAN 1972. 2 S Y N O P S I S This work examines various features of the traditional Swazi system of land tenure, the whole set of customary rules and regulations whereby rights to use land are acquired. It also discusses the ways in which this system could inhibit essential agrarian development. Part I is primarily descriptive. It covers the main characteristics of the physical environment, and the historical background to the present situation in Swaziland. Part II starts with a discussion of the best way in which to describe and analyse a non-western tenurial system, and suggests a theoretical framework for this purpose. It moves on to deal with the different types of "land community" found among the Swazi today. The point is made that modern Swazi society does know "landlords", but that these are communities and not individuals. Starting with the small Homestead Groups, larger and larger communities are examined in turn; and the whole complex of customary rules which govern relationships between different levels in the land community hierarchy, and between different communities at the same level. The formal procedures through which rights to use specific parcels of land are acquired, and how these rights can be lost, are also described and discussed. Part III is concerned primarily with some of the results of this system, and the effects on the system of various agricultural innovations. The analysis is designed to show how these innovations have, on occasion, threatened the whole existing pattern of socio-legal relationships and social control, and how the acceptance of technical innovations has been governed by the need to maintain social order. In addition, the many roles that land plays in modern Swazi society are examined at some length. The point is made that "income provision" is only one of these roles and not necessarily the most important or most desirable one in the eyes of many Swazi. The main purpose of this section is to demonstrate clearly that radical changes (either in customary land law or in the ways in which land is used) which western economists or agriculturalists might consider "obviously" desirable might not seem so obviously desirable to many Swazi. Steps designed to speed economic development will serve no useful purpose if they merely result in social chaos. The fact that many simple and "obvious" methods of dealing with the current economic malaise of the Swazi rural areas could have these disastrous side effects must be appreciated by all responsible for development planning. To be acceptable and effective, development plans must take account of these factors, and may necessitate complementary 3 legislation, apparently quite unconnected with land matters, to take care of these unfortunate side effects. Part IV is primarily an expansion of this last theme, and discusses some of the techniques whereby development could perhaps be brought about through deliberate efforts to work with, or within the framework of, Swazi customary land law. 4 Contents S Y N O P S I S ...................................................................................... 3 MAPS ..................................................................................................... 9 DIAGRAMS ......................................................................................... 10 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................... 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................... 12 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 13 LAND TENURE AND THE ECONOMIC SITUATION. ................................... 15 LAND TENURE AND THE INDIGENOUS POLITICAL SYSTEM ..................... 17 FIELD WORK ............................................................................................ 18 Techniques of investigation .................................................................... 21 PART ONE – THE BACKGROUND ................................................. 25 CHAPTER I ......................................................................................... 25 THE PHYSICAL AND ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT ........................................ 25 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE .................................................................... 25 DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION ............................................................. 28 THE TRADITIONAL ECONOMY. ................................................................ 35 THE DECLINE OF SELF SUFFICIENCY ........................................................ 37 CHAPTER 2 ......................................................................................... 39 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SWAZI STATE ................................................. 39 THE CLANS AND THE EMERGENT STATE ................................................. 41 CHAPTER 3 ......................................................................................... 47 CONSOLIDATION AND CONTACT ................................................................ 47 THE CONCESSIONS .................................................................................. 47 POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT ...................................................................... 51 FORMAL PROTECTION ............................................................................ 54 THE POST-PARTITION PERIOD ................................................................. 56 INDEPENDENCE ....................................................................................... 58 PART II ................................................................................................ 61 THE HIERARCHY OF LAND ALLOCATING COMMUNITIES .... 61 CHAPTER 4 ......................................................................................... 61 COMPARISONS BETWEEN TENURIAL SYSTEMS .......................................... 61 TECHNIQUES OF ANALYSIS...................................................................... 61 CLASSES OF RIGHTS ................................................................................. 63 LAND CONTROLLING COMMUNITIES. ..................................................... 67 CHAPTER 5 ......................................................................................... 69 THE HOMESTEAD ........................................................................................ 69 5 SETTLEMEMT PATTERN........................................................................... 69 THE HOMESTEAD GROUP ....................................................................... 73 CHAPTER 6. ........................................................................................ 82 THE HOMESTEAD GROUP AS A LAND HOLDING UNIT ................................ 82 SUB-DIVISIONS OF HOMESTEAD GROUPS .............................................. 82 LAND RIGHTS .......................................................................................... 86 THE ROLE OF HOMESTEAD GROUPS IN THE TENURIAL SYSTEM ............ 92 CHAPTER 7 ......................................................................................... 93 THE CHIEFDOM ........................................................................................... 93 THE CHIEFDOM. ...................................................................................... 93 THE FORMAL POLITICAL STRUCTURE OF A CHIEFDOM. ......................... 94 CHAPTER 8 ....................................................................................... 102 SUB-DIVISIONS OF CHIEFDOMS ................................................................ 102 WARDS .................................................................................................. 102 NEIGHBOUR CLUSTERS. ........................................................................ 107 CHAPTER 9 ....................................................................................... 112 ACQUIRING LAND RIGHTS IN A CHIEFDOM .............................................. 112 SWAZI FORMULATIONS OF THE RULES OF TENURE ............................. 112 DIRECT GRANTS BY A CHIEF. ................................................................. 114 CASE HISTORIES OF INITIAL PLACINGS .................................................. 119 RIGHTS TO OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES. ........................................... 122 CHAPTER 10 ..................................................................................... 126 THE LOSS AND RESUMPTION OF LAND RIGHTS ........................................ 126 THE RELATIVE WEIGHT OF VARIOUS RIGHTS. ....................................... 130 RIGHTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND OF THE COMMUNITY: ..................... 132 CHAPTER 11 ..................................................................................... 134 THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION ................................................................ 134 THE TWO "ADMINISTRATIONS": ..........................................................