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C:\Documents and Settings\lproctor\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLK8\Copyright - thesis (2).doc Keeping Cattle? The Politics of Value in the Communal Areas of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa DISSERTATION Presented for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Department of Anthropology UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON By Andrew Murray Ainslie March 2005 UMI Number: U591792 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U591792 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT This thesis is concerned with the cultural politics and economics of the ownership, exchange and consumption of cattle in Peddie District in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Specifically, the question for which I sought an explanation is why- given a long history of government attempts to limit and channel cattle ownership by rural Xhosa people, as well as what appeared to be entrenched processes of de-agrarianisation, economic decline and considerble circular migration between town and country - did many of the people living in the communal areas of the Eastern Cape (i.e. the former bantustans of Ciskei and Transkei) express a keen interest to own cattle? Drawing on nine years of research engagement in Peddie District, and thirteen months of fieldwork in two villages, this dissertation explores how cattle were practically and discursively enmeshed in people’s everyday livelihoods, accumulation strategies and domestic - including gender and generational - struggles of rural homesteads in Peddie District. It was clear that cattle enjoyed considerable appeal as some of the ‘big notes’ in a rural economy that was dominated by social welfare transfers and casualised employment. I found that one way to gain a fuller understanding of people's investments in cattle was to analyse their variable social and structural positions within the village milieu, their economic trajectories and their broader cultural projects over time. I attempt to do this by presenting a number of biographical sketches of people pursuing two broad economic, cultural and ritual projects, i.e. that o fukwakh'umzi [to build the homestead] andmasincedisane [let us help each other], I employ case-studies to illustrate the range of differentiated interpretations, strategies and manipulations of specifically local bovine resources that variously situated people, as members of different households, employed in pursuit of these projects. For rural people in Peddie District, especially men and some widows, holding cattle meant trying to maximise their use of available physical (i.e. ‘free’ grazing and water resources on the commons), economic (the use of state-subsidised dipping and inoculation programmes and of household labour) and cultural resources (patriarchal values, bridewealth, norms of accumulation and sharing, and ritual practices) to advance their particular social projects, within the limited range of options open to them. 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS After more than five years o f work, there are many people to thank for their support and encouragement in bringing this dissertation to completion. My greatest debt o f gratitude is to Katie, Francesca and Juliette who have patiently maintained a ‘friendly and cordial attitude to me’ and have constantly yet gently reminded me that I have a life on the other side o f this. I thank Chris de Wet, Kathy Homewood and Rob Gordon for supporting my application for a Commonwealth Scholarship. Chris has consistently supported my endeavours over the past decade and gave several chapters o f the thesis a close and critical read, for which I am most grateful. Ben Cousins, Henry Bernstein, Sandra Wallman, Dan Taylor and Barry Sharpe provided valuable insights and encouragement early on. Kathy Homewood has been very supportive throughout. Dan Brockington made a valuable editing intervention right in the nick o f time. I thank the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and especially Teresa Anderson for her assistance. And at UCL, Fran Deans, Andrew Williams, Haidy Geismar, Sandy Gray and Steve Fraser deserve a special word o f thanks. Thank you to Susan Abraham o f the Graphic Services Unit at Rhodes University who produced the maps. I am grateful to colleagues at the Agricultural Research Council, particularly Tony Palmer, M.D. Hintsa, Louisa Verwey and Derick Swart, Amie Aucamp and Colin Johnson. Nokuzola Mgxashe and Mathemba Mapuma have played a bigger role in this project than they realise. I thank them for their consistent and critical interest in my work. I am particularly grateful to have colleagues and friends like Thembela Kepe, Lungisile Ntsebeza, Christo Fabricius and Cecil Manona. I thank Leslie Bank, Arona Dison, Tony Fluxman, Fred Hendricks, Dana Labe, Siza Manjezi, Pat McAllister, Lester Mitchell, Peter Mtuze, Welile Mzozoyana, Zolile Ntshona, Qurban Rouhani, Charlie Shackleton, Sheona Shackleton, Nonceba Shoba, Lawrence Sisitka, Lynette Steenveld, Larry Strelitz, Herman Timmermans, Jackson Vena, Susi Vetter and Luvuyo Wotshela for their support and occasional harassment. In Peddie, Sonwabo Mase, Patrick Gusha, Fezile Zibi, Nonzukiso Yekani and Sakhumzi Skina were especially helpful. To the Mkhaya and Mgaba families who opened their homes and lives to me, I am most grateful. To the residents o f Hamburg and Loverstwist I say a heart-felt thank you, ndiyanibulela nonke! Lastly, I am indebted to Phil Burnham for his Buddha-like patience, his intellectual rigour and his understated yet unfailing support to me in this endeavour. For Katie. 3 CONTENTS Chapter One Introduction................................................................................... 8 Chapter Two Understanding cattle-holding in the former bantustan areas of the Eastern Cape Province.....................................................36 Chapter Three Aspects of cattle production in the Ciskeian Reserves/ Bantustan and the Eastern Cape Province (1930-2001)............ 61 Chapter Four Constructing ‘rural’ livelihoods in Peddie District.....................98 Chapter Five The distribution of cattle holdings and the costs of cattle production in Peddie District..........................................136 Chapter Six Farming cattle, cultivating relationships. A biographical approach to cattle husbandry.................................................... 163 Chapter Seven Amadoda ahamb ’emva . Gender and generational struggles for the homestead in Peddie District........................................191 Chapter Eight Harnessing the power of the ancestors: Ritual practice in Peddie District...................................................................... 219 Chapter Nine Conclusions................................................................................248 Bibliography.................................................................................................................. 258 Appendix One: Studying ‘rural’ livelihoods...................................................... 290 Appendix Two: The ‘cultural politics’ of securing livelihoods in rural Peddie District.......................................................................................305 Appendix Three: Livelihoods in the ‘informal sector’ engaged in