Who controls the land and minerals in the former Bantustans of South Africa - chiefs, the state or landholders? Disputes are taking place around the ownership of resources, decisions about their ...exploitation and who should benefit. With respect to all of these issues, the courts have become increasingly important. The contributors to Land, Law and Chiefs in Rural South Africa capture some of these intense contestations over land, law and political authority, focussing on threats to the rights of ordinary people. History and customary law feature strongly in most disputes and succession to chieftaincy is also frequently disputed. Judges have to make decisions in a context where rival claimants to property or office assert their own versions of history and custom. The South African constitution recognises customary law and the courts are attempting to incorporate and develop this branch of jurisprudence as 'living customary law'. Lawyers, community leaders and academics are called on to assist in researching cases around restitution, land rights and customary law. The chapters in this collection discuss legal cases and policy directions that have evolved since 1994. Some chapters analyse the increasing power of chiefs in the South African rural areas, while others suggest that the courts are giving support to popular rights over land and supporting local democratic processes. Contributors record significant pushback from groups that reject traditional authority. These political tensions are a central theme of the collection and thus serve as vital case studies in furthering our understanding of rights and restitution in South Africa. Who controls the land and minerals in the former Bantustans of South Africa - chiefs, the state or landholders? Disputes are taking place around the ownership of resources, decisions about their exploitation and who should benefit. With respect to all of these issues, the courts have become increasingly important. The contributors to Land, Law and Chiefs in Rural South Africa capture some of these intense contestations over land, law and political authority, focussing on threats to the rights of ordinary people. Judges have to make decisions in a context where rival claimants to property or office assert their own versions of history and custom. The South African constitution recognises customary law and the courts are attempting to incorporate and develop this branch of jurisprudence as 'living customary law'. Lawyers, community leaders and academics are called on to assist in researching cases around restitution, land rights and customary law. The chapters in this collection discuss legal cases and policy directions that have evolved since 1994. Some analyse the increasing power of chiefs in the South African rural areas. Others suggest that the courts are giving support to popular rights over land and supporting local democratic processes. These political tensions are a central theme of the collection.
The Marikana massacre of 16 August 2012 exposed significant fault-lines in South Africa's platinum mining regime. However, existing published work sheds little light on the historical trajectory of ...platinum mining in South Africa, and posits various mono-causal explanations for the tragedy that took place. This article provides an historical account of worker organisation in South Africa's platinum sector since the advent of democracy, and synthesises this story with the political and economic forces that have reshaped the sector over time. Platinum has been plagued by a highly volatile growth pattern, declining living conditions for its workers, and increasing labour segmentation since 1994. These issues posed unique challenges for organised labour, who became increasingly ineffective in the face of growing worker dissatisfaction. By highlighting the importance of these interlinked factors, the article offers important context to existing debates on Marikana. It does not delve into the violence and political upheavals that followed the massacre itself.
This is Business Land Raphael Chaskalson
Land, Law and Chiefs in Rural South Africa,
05/2021
Book Chapter
The ‘land question’ remains at the centre of South African political discourse. Land restitution has been an important strategy for addressing racially unequal ownership of land as well as forced ...removals in the apartheid era. This chapter focuses on the Hlolweni (2003) land claim, made by 883 families from three poor, rural communities in the Eastern Transkei (Mpondoland) – the villages of Mfolozi, Etyeni and Hlolweni. Starting in 1983, these families were forcefully removed from about 10 000 ha to make way for a sugar cane plantation and outgrower scheme. The families brought a restitution claim to the Eastern Cape
