The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University Lahla Ngubo –The Continuities and Discontinuities of a South African Black Middle Class Town Cape of Nkululeko Mabandla MBNANT001 A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of UniversityMasters in Sociology (MsocSc-Sociology) FACULTY OF THE HUMANITIES UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN April 2012 ii COMPULSORY DECLARATION This work has not been previously submitted in whole, or in part, for the award of any degree. It is my own work. Each significant contribution to, and quotation in, this dissertation from the work, or works, of other people has been attributed, and has been cited and referenced. Signature: Date: Town Cape of University iii Town To the Young Lions Cape of University iv Abstract This study contributes to our understanding of the trajectories of South Africa’s historical black middle class – a class which is defined by access to education, and resulting occupational opportunities, as well as access to land. The middle class under study is a particular black middle- class that established itself in Mthatha in the former Transkei Bantustan from 1908 onwards, when the Mthatha municipality needed a new and safe source of fresh drinking water and sold land to both black and white buyers in order to finance the so-called Umtata Water Scheme. This allowed the accumulation of land in the hands of a hitherto largely occupationally-based, mission-educated black middle class. The way in which this particular landed middle class has reproduced and transformed itself from the around 1900 to the present is the focus of the analysis. The study builds on Redding’s (1987) historical study of Mthatha (1870-1950) and extends the analysis to the apartheid and post-apartheid eras (1950-2010); that is, to a historical period which is generally described as being characterized by de-agrarianisation, proletarianisation and urbanisation. Consequently, land and property are rarely considered in studies dealing with this period and class is defined in terms of occupation/income only. However, this study shows clearly that the Ncambedlana black middleTown class continued to combine occupation and landownership up until the present. In addition to the first generation discussed by Redding, this study identified two more generations: a second generation which developed from the 1950s onwards, and their descendants, the third generation, which continues to combine occupation and landownership to date. The second generation continuedCape to be actively engaged in subsistence and commercial agriculture in the 1960s and 1970s, and established Ncambedlana as a residential middle-class neighbourhood which became knownof throughout the country as a place where blacks could ‘own’ land. Women played an important role in the agricultural activities of the second generation, and were central in the organization, control and marketing of household agricultural production. For the third generation, however, agriculture has been supplanted by real estate development and rental accommodation units. In other words, agricultural land has been converted to residential. The reasons for this conversion are many, and one can identify push as well as pull factors. Among the push factors are: (a) the discouragement of commercial agriculture in urban areas after 1976 (Transkei ‘independence’), (b) lack of agricultural training at schools, (c) drought and soil erosion, and (d) competitionUniversity from large retail food chain stores. Population growth in Mthatha and lack of affordable housing has been a major pull factor: agriculture now has to compete with more profitable practices such as industrial, commercial and residential land usage. Life histories were collected from members of the Ncambedlana middle class in July/August 2010 in Mthatha. In addition, archival research was undertaken in Mthatha and Cape Town. The study aims to answer the following central question: What happened to the Bantustan black middle class that combined occupation and landownership in the apartheid and post-apartheid eras? This problem is embedded in a broader theoretical and conceptual question, namely: What role if any does land play in the definition of the middle class? v Table of Contents List of Figures and Tables vii List of Abbreviations viii Preface and Acknowledgements ix Chapter 1: Introduction 1.0. Introduction and Contextual Background 1 1.1. Theoretical Framework 4 1.2. Methodology 7 1.3. Significance of the Study: Land, Class and Transformation 13 1.4. Thesis Outline 15 Chapter 2: The Study of the Black Middle Class in South Africa Town 2.0. Introduction 17 2.1. The Growth of a Black Middle Class: Colonialism, Mission Education and Capitalism 18 2.2. The Black Middle Class, 1940s-1960s: Focus on Urbanisation 22 2.3. The Black Middle Class in Urban South AfricaCape During High Apartheid 27 2.4. The Black Middle Class in the Bantustansof 31 2.5. Conclusion 35 Chapter 3: The First Generation – Elisha Mda and the Umtata Water Scheme, 1908-1950 3.0. Introduction 37 3.1. Historical Background 38 3.2. The Story of Elisha Mda (1800s-1908) – The Dialectic of Dispossession Universityand Ownership 41 3.3 The Umtata Water Scheme, 1906-1908 47 3.4. The First Generation, 1908 – 1950 54 3.5. Conclusion 62 Chapter 4: The Second Generation – Building a Community, 1950-1963 4.0. Introduction 63 4.1. The Second Generation, 1950- 1963 64 4.3. A Typology of the Second Generation 69 4.4. Black Middle Class Women, Labour and Class Reproduction 75 4.5. Community Formation 80 4.6. Conclusion 85 vi Chapter 5: The Third Generation – From Agriculture to Residential Land Conversion, 1976- 2010 5.0. Introduction 86 5.1. The Decline of Agriculture, 1976-1994 87 5.2. Ecological, Technological and Cultural Factors 93 5.3. Decline or Prosperity? Generational Shift and Mobility in the Democratic Era 95 5.4. Changes in Land Use in the Democratic Era 100 5.5 Conclusion 106 Chapter 6: Conclusion 108 Appendix: List of respondents 117 References 118 Town Cape of University vii List of Figures and Tables List of Figures Figure 1. Map of Mthatha (1999). Source: Chief Directorate of Surveys p. 40 and Mapping, Mowbray, Cape Town. Figure 2. Students at Lovedale. Source: Shepherd (1940). p. 45 Figure 3. Location of Ncambedlana, Hillcrest and Northcrest. p. 88 Source: Chief Directorate of Surveys and Mapping, Mowbray, Cape Town. Figure 4. Phase one, Ncambedlana Extension. Source: own photo, July 2010. p.102 Town List of Tables Table 1. Civil Servant’s Salary Scales in the TranskeiCape between 1977 p. 32 and 1986 (in Rands). Source: Josanaof (1989). University viii Abbreviations AA Affirmative Action BEE Black Economic Empowerment CDE Centre for Development Enterprise DLA Department of Land Affairs LRAD Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development MAR Mthatha Archives Repository NPC National Planning Commission Town TDC Transkei Development Cooperation TLA Transkei Legislative Assembly Cape TRACOC Transkei Chamber of Commerce of TRACOR Transkei Agricultural Cooperation UADS Umtata Agricultural Development Services WCCARS Western Cape Archives and Record Service XDC Xhosa Development Cooperation University ix Preface and Acknowledgements This study represents the beginning of a life-long dream to further education that was interrupted by the political conditions of the past and my involvement in opposing them. Many of my peers who undertook a similar stance against apartheid did not have the opportunity to go back to their studies after liberation was attained. I am mindful of the privilege that I have in being able to realize this dream and thus takes this opportunity to dedicate this thesis to all the generations of young lions who answered the call of their people and country to bring about a democratic transformation in South Africa. Many people have been involved in encouraging and supporting me in the process of doing this study including my family and my mother. A special word of thanks goes to my wife Ana, who has been there all along, encouraging, advising and supporting as well as reading and editing the final draft of this thesis. Many thanks also go to my supervisor Lungisile Ntsebeza, who has been a pillar of strength in supporting this dream. It was his mentoring and supervision which transformed what had started as a very broadTown idea into a manageable and do-able study. I would also like to thank all the members of the Land Reform and Democracy seminar group, whose generous feedback has helped along the way. Sincere and heartfelt thanks go to the wonderfulCape help and contribution of the people of Ncambedlana who generously gave of their time and opened their doors to be interviewed. While all their contributions are equally valued,of including those whose names do not appear verbatim in this present text, I would like to give a special word of thanks to Mr. Mthobi Makiwane, Dr. Zandile Stofile and Mr. Mda Mda. If their views are not reflected in this manuscript, it is through no fault of theirs and all mistakes are, as always, my own. I would also like to thank the staff of the Mthatha Archives Repository and the Western Cape Archives and Records Service whose help was invaluable. Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge the generousUniversity help of the NRF Research Chair in Land Reform and Democracy in South Africa, the KW Johnson Research, the UCT Equity Scholarship, the Hans Middleman Scholarship and the UCT Canada Foundation, without whose financial assistance the study would not have been possible.