A University of Sussex DPhil thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details LAND REFORM, SPACE AND POWER IN MAKHADO MUNICIPALITY, LIMPOPO, SOUTH AFRICA Stephen John Greenberg Doctor of Philosophy University of Sussex July 2011 I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature:……………………………………………………………………… iii UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX STEPHEN JOHN GREENBERG DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY LAND REFORM, SPACE AND POWER IN MAKHADO MUNICIPALITY, LIMPOPO, SOUTH AFRICA SUMMARY This thesis explores the role of land reform in the production of space and relations of power in rural South Africa after 1994, based on a case study of a cluster of restitution farms in Makhado municipality in Limpopo province in northern South Africa. It uses Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space, which proposes that space is a dynamic social construction and that spatial and social – and hence power - relations are mutually constitutive. Land reform processes are considered using three components of the production of space identified by Lefebvre, namely the material, the conceptual and the lived. These components are applied to three core themes in land reform which emerged from the research: authority and land governance; property relations; and land use (production and settlement). The investigation was based primarily on interviews with inhabitants in the research area affected by land reform, with individuals with some historical knowledge of the area, and with various individuals from government and other support organisations with some relation to land reform in the area. The methods included an element of participant observation and some archival research. The research indicates that land reform had an uneven impact on the production of space and power relations in the area of study. Contradictions emanating from within the state in particular exacerbated this unevenness. The retention of the private property framework and the entrenchment of pre-existing forms of authority and relations of power – private landowners and traditional authorities – constituted limitations on the role land reform could play in altering rural spaces and power relations. However, land reform simultaneously facilitated openings for subterranean shifts through new practices, rooted in everyday activities at the micro-spatial level, which signalled potential broader shifts in spatial and power relations over time. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES ....................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................ vii ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction: Space, power and land reform ............................................................... 1 1.2 Background to land reform in South Africa .................................................................. 7 1.3 Core questions and research site ................................................................................ 11 1.4 Methodology ............................................................................................................... 22 1.5 Chapter synopsis ......................................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER 2: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: THE PRODUCTION OF SPACE AND POWER ........... 29 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 29 2.2 The production of space ............................................................................................. 29 2.3 Space and power ......................................................................................................... 37 2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 44 CHAPTER 3: LAND REFORM AND THE PRODUCTION OF SPACE IN RURAL SOUTH AFRICA ..... 47 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 47 3.2 Space, authority and governance ............................................................................... 47 3.3 Property relations, land reform and space ................................................................. 52 3.4 Agricultural production, settlement and the production of space ............................. 56 3.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 63 CHAPTER 4: THE HISTORICAL PRODUCTION OF SPACE AROUND VLEIFONTEIN ...................... 64 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 64 4.2 Brief historical background to the area ...................................................................... 64 4.3 Space and authority, property and land use before the whites ................................. 68 4.4 White encroachment and the restructuring of space and power .............................. 74 4.4.1 The construction of commercial farms ............................................................... 74 4.4.2 Constructing African ‘locations’ and the subordination of traditional authority 82 4.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 85 CHAPTER 5: SPACE, AUTHORITY AND LAND GOVERNANCE .................................................... 87 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 87 5.2 Changing rural authority: new representations entangled in old practices ............... 88 5.3 Materialising representations of governance and authority in spatial practice ........ 93 5.3.1 White land owners: holding their ground, but ceding authority ........................ 95 5.3.2 The influence of traditional authority ................................................................. 99 5.4 The CPA committees and a nascent capitalist class.................................................. 109 5.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 120 v CHAPTER 6: PROPERTY RELATIONS, LAND REFORM AND SPACE .......................................... 124 6.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 124 6.2 Property and representations of space: a tension at the heart of restitution ......... 124 6.3 The structure of property relations within the fragmented spaces of land reform . 131 6.3.1 Collective ownership ......................................................................................... 131 6.3.2 Individual tenure ............................................................................................... 134 6.4 Collective private ownership and spatial practice .................................................... 139 6.4.1 Contesting boundaries ...................................................................................... 139 6.4.2 The contradictions of land leasing .................................................................... 146 6.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 150 CHAPTER 7: PRODUCTION, SETTLEMENT AND THE RESTRUCTURING OF SPACE .................. 153 7.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 153 7.2 Inherited material configurations ............................................................................. 153 7.3 Tensions embedded in conceptions of land use ....................................................... 158 7.4 Changing spatial practices and land use ................................................................... 167 7.4.1 Structuring dominant spaces of production ..................................................... 170 7.4.2 Reconstructing on-farm space ‘from below’ .................................................... 177 7.4.3 Settlement dynamics, spatial practice and lived space .................................... 191 7.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 196 CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 198 8.1 Land reform and the