“The Quest for the Land”
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“The Quest for the Land” The Case of South African Land Restitution through Strategic Partnership Model October 2009 MSc Management of Agro-Ecological Knowledge and Social Change MSc Thesis – Rural Development Sociology RDS – 80430 Soutrik Basu Supervisor: Dr. Ir. Pieter de Vries Co-Supervisor: Ir. Yves van Leynseele “The Quest for the Land” The Case of South African Land Restitution Through Strategic Partnership Model “The Quest for the Land” The Case of South African Land Restitution through Strategic Partnership Model October 2009 MSc Thesis – Rural Development Sociology RDS – 80430 Soutrik Basu Registration Number: 850108037090 MSc Management of Agro-Ecological Knowledge and Social Change Supervisor: Dr. Ir. Pieter de Vries Co-Supervisor: Ir. Yves van Leynseele Examiner: Prof. Dr. Ir. Cees Leeuwis Soutrik Basu “The Quest for the Land” The Case of South African Land Restitution Through Strategic Partnership Model Acknowledgments “I am the source of all spiritual and material worlds. Everything emanates from me.” Srimath Bhagavad Gita My profound thanks and gratitude goes to the Almighty God for showering His gracious blessings on me throughout the whole period of the thesis. Everything begins with Him and ends with Him. I am greatly indebted to my parents and family for their continuous love and support during my stay in the Netherlands as well as in the South Africa. I am sincerely indebted and grateful to my supervisor Dr. Ir. Pieter de Vries for his quality guidance, constructive criticism, and continuous encouragement for the entire period of the thesis. I am really thankful to Pieter for his patience and interest that he showed for a novice in research, like me. I doubt whether I could have completed a thesis without his active involvement. Whenever I stand in front of him, with empty vessel of knowledge, it has been always spill over with knowledge and wisdom. Pieter has opened up a whole world of knowledge in front of me; it was only my inability to utilize it wholly. Pieter, you are my Guru, you are my Dronacharya, but I don‟t know if I have lifted myself up to the extent as Arjuna did for Dronacharya. Thank you very much for everything. You will be a constant source of inspiration to me forever. I would like to express a special thanks to my Co-Supervisor Mr. Yves van Leynseele for providing me with the initial suggestions regarding this research. It was really nice to meet you in South Africa during the field work. I also express my sorry for some misunderstandings with him during the thesis writing period. I hope these misunderstandings will not disturb our mutual relationship as a Co-Supervisor and friendship. I am equally thankful to Professor Dr. Ir. Cees Leeuwis for readily agreeing to be the examiner of this thesis despite of his very busy schedule. It is always a special privilege to acknowledge the Executive Board of Wageningen University and Research Centre for providing me the WU Fellowship to pursue my MSc study in Wageningen. I am grateful to Mrs. Teresa Yates, Director of Nkuzi Development Association for hosting me for the field research in South Africa. People within Nkuzi like Ntokozo, Joe, David, Shirhami, Marenzhe, and Newi deserve special thanks. Soutrik Basu “The Quest for the Land” The Case of South African Land Restitution Through Strategic Partnership Model I am equally grateful to Tshila and her family for hosting me in the initial days of my field research in South Africa. However, most of my gratitude in South Africa goes out to the people of Ravele community for spending time with me, sharing their opinion and most importantly host me in their community with all cordial generosity. Help which has been extended by Adolf and Bethuel was invaluable. I express my sincere gratitude for the facilitation in the local tribal council. It was a precious honor for me. At last, a special thanks to that unknown personality, who turned up in my cottage in the hamlet in a late windy night for burglary and took all my money and gadgets. But fortunately didn‟t take away my laptop which was full of research data. My deepest sense of thanks to Salim bhai and his family who has given me shelter during the last days in South Africa. I belong to the MAKS-22 family which in a truest sense was a multi-cultural and trans- national in nature. I have enriched myself substantially from this group. MAKS-22 showed enormous amount of love towards me and you know I love you all too. It was a privilege for me to be part of the MAKS family. A big thank to my friends in Wageningen especially to Wasiul Bhai and Goba Da. Another unending source of love and inspiration came from a very special friend who always extended her cordial support to me and my work. Words are too little to express how much she has done for me. Thank you Radhika for the all the support that you have extend to me. ii Soutrik Basu “The Quest for the Land” The Case of South African Land Restitution Through Strategic Partnership Model Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS III TABLE OF CONTENTS III DEDICATION VIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS X ABSTRACT XI CHAPTER 1 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 LAND REFORM IN SOUTH AFRICA 1 1.1.1Brief history of land reform 1 1.1.2 Constitutional provision for land reform 2 1.1.3 Current scenario of South African land reform 3 1.2 BACKGROUND 3 1.3THE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP MODEL 5 1.3.1 Brief history of the ‘Strategic Partnership model’ 5 1.3.2 How does it work? 6 1.4 RESEARCH ORIGIN 7 1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 8 1.6 THE LOCAL CONTEXT 8 1.7 THE STRUGGLE FOR THE LAND 10 1.8 PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RESEARCH QUESTION 11 1.8.1 Knowledge gap and an unequal power play 11 1.8.2 First general research question 13 1.8.3 Specific research questions 13 1.8.4 Intra communal dynamics 13 1.8.5 Second general research question 14 1.8.6 Specific research questions 14 1.9 CONCEPTS AND ITS RELEVANCE 14 1.9.1 Community 14 1.9.2 Relevance of the concepts of community to the research 15 1.9.3 Knowledge 16 1.9.4 Relevance of the concept of knowledge for the research 16 iii Soutrik Basu “The Quest for the Land” The Case of South African Land Restitution Through Strategic Partnership Model 1.9.5 Interface of knowledge 17 1.9.6 Relevance of interface of knowledge for the research 17 1.9.7 Power 17 1.9.8 Relevance of power to the research 18 1.9.9 Hegemony and its relevance 18 1.9.10 Agency 19 1.9.11 Relevance of agency to the research 19 1.10 METHODOLOGY 20 1.10.1 Selection of the community 20 1.10.2 Case study 20 1.10.3 Data collection 21 1.10.3.1 Ethnography 21 1.10.3.2 Documentary data: 21 1.10.3.3 Selecting informants and interviews: 21 1.10.3.4 Participant observations 23 1.10.4 Data analysis 23 1.10.5 Limitations of the thesis 24 1.10.6 Learning process 25 1.11THE STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS 25 CHAPTER 2 27 KNOWLEDGE 27 2.1 INTRODUCTION 27 2.2 CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY: 28 2.2.1 Saki speaks 28 2.2.2 Synos speaks 30 2.3 CONSTRUCTION OF ‘KNOWLEDGE OF SKILLS’ 32 2.3.1 Brief life story of Adolf Ravele 33 2.3.2 Adolf speaks 34 2.3.3 Case of a farm worker 36 2.4 CONSTRUCTION OF ‘STRATEGIC KNOWLEDGE’ 36 2.4.1 George speaks 37 2.4.2 Bethuel speaks 38 iv Soutrik Basu “The Quest for the Land” The Case of South African Land Restitution Through Strategic Partnership Model 2.5 CONCLUSIONS 39 CHAPTER 3 41 POWER AND HEGEMONY 41 3.1 INTRODUCTION 41 3.2 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE INTERACTS WITH REST OF THE COMMUNITY 42 3.2.1 Case study of Tshila 43 3.2.2 Case study of Lutendo 48 3.3 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE INTERACTS WITH STRATEGIC PARTNERS 51 3.3.1 Adolf on the problem regarding the forest trees in the farms 51 3.3.2 Nelson on cropping pattern of the farms 53 3.3.3 Ehezlile on the problem of management fees 55 3.3.4 Maulama on financial and off farm activities 56 3.3.5 Bethuel on farm employment issue 58 3.4 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE INTERACTS WITH THE STATE 60 3.4.1 Profit Sharing 61 3.4.2 Management of the project 61 3.4.3 Composition of board of directors 62 3.4.4 Farming Expertise 62 3.4.5 Rent of the land 63 3.4.6 Dispute Settlement 64 3.4.7 Accessing the working capital 64 3.5 CONCLUSION 65 CHAPTER 4 66 AGENCY 66 4.1 INTRODUCTION 66 4.2 DEVELOPMENT OF AGENCY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY 67 4.2.1 Case study of Tuto Ravele 68 4.2.2 Case study of Revano 70 4.2.3 Case study of Mutshidzi 72 4.3 DEVELOPMENT OF AGENCY BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 74 4.3.1 Changes in the policy papers 75 v Soutrik Basu “The Quest for the Land” The Case of South African Land Restitution Through Strategic Partnership Model 4.3.1.1 Skill transfer plan 75 4.3.1.2 Funding 76 4.3.1.3 Labor 77 4.3.1.4 Subscription for shares 77 4.3.1.5 Appointment of Directors 78 4.3.1.6 Management of the company 78 4.3.1.7 Rental 79 4.3.1.8 Sustainability 80 4.3.1.9 Marketing of the products 80 4.3.2 Changes in the attitude 81 4.4 CONCLUSION 82 CHAPTER 5 84 DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 84 5.1 OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH 84 5.2 SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH FINDINGS 85 5.2.1 How do people deal with the knowledge gap that is perceived by the state within the Strategic Partnership model? 85 5.2.2 How is the unequal power relations reshaped within the Strategic Partnership model? 86 5.2.3.