Circulation Agreement In presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree from Emory University, I agree that the Library of the University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to copy from, or to publish, this dissertation may be granted by the professor under whose direction it was written when such copying or publication is solely for scholarly purposes and does not involve potential financial gain. In the absence of the professor, the dean of the Graduate School may grant permission. It is understood that any copying from, or publication of, this dissertation which involves potential financial gain will not be allowed without written permission. _________________________ Sarah M. Mathis After Apartheid: Chiefly Authority and the Politics of Land, Community and Development By Sarah M. Mathis Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology _________________________ Donald L. Donham, Ph.D. Adviser _________________________ _________________________ Peggy F. Barlett, Ph.D. Bruce M. Knauft, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member _________________________ _________________________ Huda N. Mustafa, Ph.D. Clifton Crais, Ph.D. Committee Member Committee Member _________________________ David Nugent, Ph.D. Committee Member _________________________ Lisa A. Tedesco, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School _________________________ Date After Apartheid: Chiefly Authority and the Politics of Land, Community and Development By Sarah M. Mathis B.S., Principia College, 1997 M.A., University of Notre Dame, 1999 Adviser: Donald L. Donham, Ph.D. An Abstract of a dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology 2008 Abstract In the decade following the end of apartheid, the South African government has implemented a series of neoliberal reforms designed to stabilize the economy after a long period of political and economic instability. Reforms have also been influenced by a desire for redress for the wrongs of apartheid. However, the effects of these two agendas of reform have been rather unexpected in many impoverished former reserves. In these rural areas, where communities are still governed by hereditary chiefs and have access to few government services, local manifestations of the South African state are characterized by the persistence of authoritarian forms of rule and the vast expansion of social welfare. This work examines these political and economic changes through an ethnographic study of a semi-rural former reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. In the post-apartheid era of declining employment, rural households have shifted reliance from migrant wages to welfare grants from the state and money from the proliferation of development projects. Changing dynamics within the household regarding child care and the mobility of young women engaged in temporary or informal work has led to disputes between older and younger women over land, labor and income. The collapse of migrant labor and widespread unemployment has increased the dependency of people on sources of aid which are focused on giving to local communities—where local is defined as a “traditional community” under the jurisdiction of chiefs. However, this construction relies on silencing a long history of struggle against attempts to restrict the access of black South Africans to land and political rights through any system except that of chiefs. Memories of violence and collusion with the apartheid state by powerful members of these rural communities are pieces of history that are wrapped in silence and disabling of true reform, particularly as the stakes of holding onto rural land increase in light of growing poverty. After Apartheid: Chiefly Authority and the Politics of Land, Community and Development By Sarah M. Mathis B.S., Principia College, 1997 M.A., University of Notre Dame, 1999 Adviser: Donald L. Donham, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology 2008 Acknowledgements This research was supported primarily by a grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Award. I am also indebted to Emory University for the many fellowships and grants that enabled me to participate in preliminary research and language training and the additional research support provided by the Fund for Internationalization. In South Africa, I am deeply grateful to the people of eZimwini and oGagwini who welcomed me into their communities and told me their stories, making this research possible. In eZimwini, I am particularly indebted to Tom Mkhize, who found a place for me to stay, and to Bongekile, Thobile and Ngcebo Mkhize who made me welcome in their home. My research assistants, Mpume Ndlovu and Theli Nxele, provided valuable insight and much appreciated help with translation. The Mkhize family and my research assistants also taught me courage, as I witnessed them move forward despite numerous illnesses and deaths that challenged their families during the short years around my stay. While in the field, I found an academic home at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where I was supported and encouraged by many of the dedicated professors there. I am particularly indebted to Jeff Guy for having taught me to pay close attention to history and to Jabulani Sithole for his willingness to share with me his personal knowledge and contacts in the region. Thembinkosi Modi provided me with a wonderful role model for being an engaged scholar and was generous with his time and his ideas. A special thank you also to Keith Breckenridge, Catherine Burns, Pearl Sithole, Julie Parle and to all those, including the students, who attended the History and African Studies Seminar. The sense of community and lively scholarship I found at the seminar were an inspiration to me and truly made me feel at home. My language training was greatly enriched by my participation in the Fulbright- Hays Group Project Abroad and I had wonderful isiZulu teachers in Mary Gordon, Msawakhe Hlengwa, Sandra Sanneh and Mpume Zondi. During the process of writing this dissertation, I was blessed with feedback and comments from many people. My adviser, Don Donham, provided insight and a calm approach to the task of writing a dissertation. I am also thankful for the guidance, encouragement and ongoing professional advice provided by my committee members, including Peggy Barlett, Bruce Knauft, Hudita Mustafa, Clifton Crais, and David Nugent. I would also like to acknowledge the support and friendship of many fellow students and recent graduates who were also writing and doing research, particularly Molly Margaretten, Leah Wolfson, Faidra Papavasiliou, Derick Fay and Dan Mains. I have also received feedback and support from many anthropology graduate students here at Emory University and from all of those who attended the writing group at Don Donham’s house in Oakland, CA. Finally, I couldn’t have done this without the love and support of my family. Thank you all! Table of Contents Chapter 1 – Introduction 1 Chapter 2 – EMbo-Timuni and the Formation of the South African Reserves 36 Chapter 3 – From War Leaders to Freedom Fighters 75 Chapter 4 – The Politics of Land Reform: Tenure and Political Authority 121 Chapter 5 – Development and Economic Change 155 Chapter 6 - Disobedient Daughters: Debating Culture and Rights 203 Chapter 7 – Conclusion 237 Works Cited 244 List of Figures Figure 1.1 – Inkosi Mkhize 7 Figure 1.2 – EZimwini 9 Figure 1.3 – Unstructured interview participant 29 Figure 1.4 – Youth focus group 30 Figure 2.1 – The reserves under Apartheid 37 Figure 2.2 – Map of the region 67 Figure 3.1 – Land that has been abandoned in the aftermath of violence 89 Figure 3.2 – The remnants of the house of Sipho Mkhize 107 Figure 3.3 – Mkhandi Shozi showing us the major battle sites 110 Figure 3.4 – Mkhandi Shozi dressed in an ANC recruitment T-shirt in 2005 112 Figure 4.1 – Land claims meeting 124 Figure 5.1 – Hawkers outside of the school on election day 163 Figure 5.2 – An EFO group examining a farm 191 Figure 5.3 – An EFO meeting 193 Figure 5.4 – Discussing the benefits of organic farming during an EFO meeting 198 Figure 6.1 – Pension day 209 Figure 6.2 – Money given to the bride during a pre-wedding umemulo ceremony 213 Figure 6.3 – Gifts given in return during the umemulo 213 Figure 6.4 – The final wedding ceremony 214 Figure 6.5 – Preparing to speak to the ancestors before paying inhlawulo 216 Figure 6.6 – Arriving at the house of the young woman’s parents 216 Chapter 1 - Introduction Post-Apartheid South Africa During the final decade of the twentieth century, South Africa finally saw an end to the long struggle against apartheid and almost a century of minority rule. While celebrating this triumph, the new African National Congress (ANC) government has also faced a host of challenges in stabilizing the economy and reversing the discriminator y practices of former regimes. The policies of the post-apartheid government have been driven by two competing agendas, namely a desire for the redistribution of wealth and a neoliberal agenda of political decentralization and market liberalization designed to democratize local government and make the economy more globally competitive. In this dissertation I will illustrate the outcomes of these agendas of reform, and the economic and political changes that have resulted from them, in an impoverished former reserve.1 In these rural and semi-rural areas, where communities are still governed by hereditary chiefs and have access to few government services, reforms have unexpectedly reinforced the power of the chiefs and increased reliance on development aid and social welfare.