STATE OF THE NATOS 2S - Historical Papers, Wits University · STATE OF THE NATOS 2S Inkatha a Impta...

THE POLITICS OF COOPTIONSTATE OF THE NATOS 2S

Inkatha a Impta — thofr B ln may shrink w u m i aomo thing lo oo m toe tSa hart ■ ailUkxi ttv»atonod wWi rwnovai m Natai

F OR INKATHA 1cade; Gats ha B utbekx;. the South African Couodi of Churche*

(SA C C booklet oc rexx>vais u the ‘kind of sruff which m ould be uaed for toilet paper' The booklet, published last year. * u an in-oeptfc uivesngaooo of rerocm h in South Africa Although KwaZulu t u nowhere menoooec by name. Buthelen cboae to «nerpret cnt>- a a n of oaonm am a* a s attack oo KwaZulu.

T h e la m c f o f the k waZufu L eg» labve Assembly with the apartheid brash b despicable, and when this kind of demgraboc fiow j from the bpa that pray m puiptts on Sundays, then it becomes profanity', sasd Butheiezi.Thai same day Dr M adide. new

KwaZuiu minister of the-tntenor. challenged the SACC to ft public debate oc the nn*otvemeni of KwaZuh- in removals Other Inkatha rrpreaentarrva have taken up the cry

In Ju iy Las', year. KwaZulu member of parliament. Sithetn, sa»d that people should oo longer go to church until the m ane: was sorted outThe SACC. teekreg some recon

ciliation with KwaZulu, did not accept the challenge But it would have had some points for the debateTwo KwaZulu M Fs have been *il

ting on the Ha rung*. Loason Committee . a committee established by Mr Pretonus of Co- operation rad Development heaJ office in December 19S2 Th-s committee ss to he;p with the removal of the people from Cornfields and Tert>- baiihic The two M T s. Gumb- and

INKA1ON THE MOVEInkatha's taking an Interest In removals. Is H because of Its concern with the people's plight or because further neglect could harm Inkatha's imag»7 .

! tein was excised rrorr, KwaZ_u trie |j first step in removal. A! tzr time I KwaZulu did not even b o a r to * ! tn/orm the 70 OOu peopir at the | Dnefontein com p in Wry the ! change three yean later?| The answer car be four*: tr the ! i speeches '•i M adi-e and S o eb t — I

i the locai MPs oo these tw : occasions Much of these s p e e c h contained warnings agains; ocher organisations wnicli spreac con*u-

Inon u> the mrnds of the petoe People were wameo w a jis t

, Azaoo, Azaso and the SAC^ and i Afr» who ‘spread confusion and j who su#t=*r Laat Lftc KwaZuu gov-

cotnmuni Lies thrc«isn«<jR adebe. * e re p re tax . » l a number I f t c o r d e ^ * ^ , t w>„.nLadysmith N anoaate: MP. Vai \ When

K ^ t£ !??re rre*em ab o n oc th e * 1 V olkersarf in June \<*& that he bad I with rrmoval went to ace Mdlaiose W * com m inea 6rw boam c • t»Hu-with InU U u o t to * * who I n-m m ister of Iht nubbc issue in 1981 In September i we»e lym patheac so the idea of a> j were told that nothing <xhi

S i r Z L • ____ ZZrZir* ^ ir return. I done for them They should mere*ythat year Koornhotf told parliament that KwaZulu had agreed to the formation of sieenng oommmees to help with removals.Two months later the then minis

ter of the interior. Frank Mdlalose. denied this KwaZulu had always opposed removals he claimed.

So the presence of these two MP* i ; on the removals steering committee

seems tc be in direct contradictor j to official KwaZulu policy

Radebe said I h it hts and Gumbi'i I involvement w u only to . help | people to rcatsi removal Howeve: i the facts tell a different story ' The minutes of these meetings j s lw * that on O ctob er 24 RadeOe

offered informanor. on the are- so that removal would be easier Their

I oppposition lo the move u> not

knowlege of this So dai L - — ------ --•ecretarv. Q eajiy Volker spoke to

*

operation witn removals ic return fo r industrial Oereloprr<r.t in the i try and ux that they were Tugeia Basin I adequately compensated

Locai KwaZuh) MK? denied ! Buthelen has not sooken m anv of Buthelen's * the areas i t the Ladysmith custnct

‘ where 100 Oft' people are threatened with remove i

These are twe eram pies of ' There are places where kxa ! inkatha's mvrwrcmer: arth -eroov- Inkatha organisation has organised

i ah . But their negSrc a i Lhe issue is j against removal One sud place is teren more w»deapread. lagwavuma the 12 0ftv*m>ng community at has been the oitiv propcwed remova M abwane’s Kop >et this embat-

| taken up witr.' m<«± eoeriy Pv • tied commumry has not beer gtven Inkatha.

It seized the opp-rruniry to mobilise people tc tne a iea Buthelczi himsej. rlaii»e<J that thii m u c rocketed liik a '^ t r*emt<i»hip frntr 200 0r»l tr WO Im e c. not, it is clear Inkatha won supw»n for taking up th>< cm . '*e lane

the ex peeved support from lnkatna leadership

However some new devetopmenii have taken placr in the las: itr* monrhs In Julv the new minis n of the interior. MadiOc. spoke a* iwo thrratened a rca i StemcoaJs; m t and D nrfanted In 19H1 Dnci>

m m a

W AITING FOR THE LAW TO COME

borehole There is mo dim e on the farm and the sick must take the bus to Nqutu or Vryheid There is ooe primary school which eaten for about 2 500 children The children are divided into groups and attend one and a half hours of school each day.There is a big black textbook m Mr

Mdietsha s mudnouse In it be marks down al o r* people who enter the area In h^ suitcase he has piles of trespasses — eviction notices served on farmworkers.Trekpasses are presented to Mr

I Mdietsha as evidence of people's | destitution — that they have I nowhere to go and therefore must | be provided with a place at | Bhekumthetbo| There is no grazing here EvictedI labour tenants must go to extraordi

nary lengths to find a place for their cattle. Mr Masimula arrived in Bhekumthetho in March last year He has lived on ten white farms since childhood

Each eviction has meant a tie* attempt to find a white farmer who would take him. Bhekumthetho is

the las: stop When h* was las’ evicted the farme' le izea hi * cartle Still attempting to recover them he has aJreadv paid a lawyer K-^C Kii story is similar to maa> otiiers If he recovers his ca ttx . he wi!. pav mooc\ to a white fanae- for gTai ing

Bhekumthetho reaadents have seen troubled times In 1981/82 there were threats oi a removal to Qudeni. This was parcy in response to the arrival of Qwef Dalwayiru Mdlatose Allegations are that Chief Mdlalose began to negouate with Pretoria for the removal of the people

j A committee with popular support j emerged in the face of these threats j Mdietsha became tne chairpersoni His feelings about the chief are j dear ‘He no longer consults with

the people and the people don t

want to be iTv>ved 1 wor i say rfcrs is paradiae. but for us Gliden: anc Noodweni w*ok Lae another hei- on enrth At ieasr here at Bhekumthetho * e are not too far iron work. If we go to Qudeni we will be forced to become migrant workers.’

The immediate threat or remova* however, seems to be over. Bhekumthetho has beer handed over to KwaZulu to administer However, this brings further impoverishment to the people of Bhekumtnetho Before, tney would look for work in Vryheid. in white South Africa N o^they are compelled to go to the Nqutu labour bureaux where it is extremely difficult to get work and the only work offered is foT migrants.

The people of Bhekumthetho have seen their families become mcreas ingly impoverished. It doesr, t seerr. that it can get much worse

' emment.At Stcmcoaispruit, Sitheb with-

fr ffr tn m ro n rs rw in forward to Buthelezi tta. the prople have full conftoer.rr t the

t KwaZulu government anc ire ctucf i mimster and that the peooe were J agains1 removal and wocic rathe* i be she ' than be moved Kt con

tinued that KwaZulu w*» no., against conv.iidauon bu: wanted i the whole of Natal *

The emergence of nr* *outiC2 i organisation in South Ainc*. esoe- ( i a a iiy the UDF. is ecremei> ;. threa:emng to Butheiec. and 1• inkaLha Inkatha ha* bea^n to

realise that not to taxe up a u e s of |. removal would be to p l i ' w'C the | Hands ol these oiâmsatKV.

t Buthfl"7i «pem eighT of a ji p o lio speech t r .ktnf ih- j--.CC t

bo»>kiet on rem ovaa Thi* x x k-iv | a» ’ jly deverved such Butd .a rg ir s p>0i.aca l au f'm .r • irceO nwatâ to tOGk *.-e%h

• rerr-jvaiiA growing 'Meres* “ rrraoâ*' •>« .

‘ ih ep arto f Inxatha isprooativ rK* e j• a 'e sro rse to the cmeigr.r^-r c i *he i i LIP' than d re?.' exair r rhc '

or.amsauo:* uk ir.g J f me irrugctes I l of ordinary people

I; is ciear STom Kw.tZulu i<anO cm j !«amonrvii»e anc’ >J V-cstC u .as th'-.t ; butneier. want% all Z « to be ;

i induced under the junsci-'»m of , i KwaZu.u! Communities threatenew* with | j bîag moved often sent ver'-.senta- i tives to Uiundi to inform k » iZ u h i i of their plight. KwaZulu wcwictnen : mtorm them that nothing nxJd be i done for them because thr land on : which they were living fei outside• their jurisdiction.J Developments will be eatremeiy | interesting Co-operatjo* and ; Development is preparing » e s for I the 100 000 people threatened with \ removal in the Ladysm iit district i The Olifantskop Dam has beer i built in preparation Pretona ?s nor i likelv to give up these niass How | tat wil! Inkatha go in hetpeg naif a

million people in N aia resist removals0

THE SOCIAL OUTCASTS

Some people call it superstition... but what

are the real reasons behind the horror of witch burning

L a s t y e a r at leas* 16ptcpte m m n e f of being wtul>es wrrrr put to death if.

toe nortbere 1 nta*vaai by the i p -vea om c metbc*_ of bang burnt j ahvc Others were bung or stoned to d e a lt . A aawrKT of people Oed from the-: lite r being .

of p ram u i| w itd tcn li 1

The c tm o t r a u press has reacted , by iea»lDoaM— jtb c deaths, mak- I mg mucr o( me 'barbanc execu- I tK«» and tbe apparently 'prim itive' j beliefs wfcjct cause them Witdacrafc beSets are part of tbe |

woriavke* & moat indigenous | ■noctjcx «r aoiahrro Africa They | exptait the occurrence of misfor- | nrrv and apparent evil deed*. which a rt bebeved u> oc caused by peopic | motivated by etrvy. jealousy or other an^-w oa! motives

While be»tef ta witdicraft m a broad way is common ; anuiropotopsa aay accusations of witchcraft * j O » a person. and action ataias. alieged witches, is ertrerneiy a r c . and only takes place in tiroes of errreme stress. when a community tecu nxeif to be under great duress

The auodex apsurge of witch b lim p mut: iaertrfc*re be seen in its comer. M or o< the events have taken place id the Zebedtela and Tzaneer areas which have been subjected ac many problems ic

BUT POVERTY FUELS THEFLAMESrecent times

All rural communities m Soctfc Africa have suffered a aeverr and cuxtained three-year drewgh'., destroying local p roduct** ol sut- s ilen ce crow . On top of tins, the econorm has plunged mtc a recession with unemployment dnnbeng rapidlv lnfiux control laws and -tbe changing manpower needs of sndus- try have ensured tna* the majority of unemployed people are located in rural areasTbe Zebed>ela area a further bur

dened by poUtica] problems For some vears Che dirt n r. has been Lebowa's dumping gromsd for Large numbers of peopse subjected to

i» rwaponsJW * tor wHcfthon*• '

of lightning strikes it s e ao rherr T~ansvaal. The weaffle- bureau reports 'h at. despite ike drought. : lip .nm iri is n.orc cresnoi' tn*r. us ..a I due to thr hir* aarev.nts M su u c eiecurfatv create* try me dryc«»r*re !n w iuncrar the :w-'.c.*' * mos' puwerru wea;-**. is bghvung. j

0 * a u t” lira .

{ *btack apor’ rem ovals fnnr. K w ai- 1 n ielaagte. E lan dadoon ii W aieTkJoof and K u ifa n v x r , wiuch

iare no» white farms Tha influx ol people has placers great strain on the area 's already inadequate

1 resources, arid has caused tensions , between the resettled people and j the people who already lived there.1 Bantustan p^bocs a ir a bhgQt on i the area Unpopular appointed , chiefs and beadm er ah o p am ap ate I in the Lebcrwi administration are

and distrusted by their sub- j yeccx And chief Johannes kekana. I a northern N debek chief in j X ebed ieis. has been agitating smce i 1975 tor the area to oe incorporated

I into KwaNdcbele j iicbcraft accusations are a soca! i strain aaUge — thev measure the i ■nvn.n: oi anxiety and tensjor. j with ir. a community The accuser j witch becomes a scapegoat, wnere

the community can unite and establish solidarity by purging the apps rent cause of misfortune from its midst

Poverty . unemployment, drought, infiaaon. overcrowding: and political uncertainty, all combine to raise tbe anxietv and tension to an intolerable level. The final ingredient has been provided by the chance intervention of the climate

There has been an unusual amount

A-i-1 thr ch«»i.e of W ' - . l reve k.ir\i. Soi»v cf the arecider*v meu or wr-rie- usualiv wir-<'wx Such peor.: r t .- c a J buturn or. th t a . th< jdo not work ii in c u r* ' ®urgtner a ir any tr crvu t . If are some- %bat ' io n a ., they tr i- tn e Kleai scapegoats

One r=- waling ca^r :s the >il lagf of M ankaeng r»e*- ZeberfceU

‘ whe-" the heacrr.an *= iseC three j mer. who fled for tnss lives. T'vz

men hac previous!'' somsec the I headman of misarrwi-'prva.in^ i school- building fundi Tbr> reprc

sent the 'new ' mer. of x e coroaiun- i its — one is a businesa»£r. an^the

a voluntary woraer for Operatior Hunger.VVha" emerges » that, in tnesc

! times of uncer.a in tj. unpopular an*.1 unrepresentative oanrE»ran appoin- ‘ lees expioM the condttsixr>. 10 assert | their authority by u saa tradiHora.’

beliefs and practices Taeu cnoicr J of victims tends to be pctocal m ais I or handv scapegoat;

# F r o « P *9 * 77Ethnic rv a ■ c ie aain^Ty being

used to botner the power and Jegjo- j mac) of the various banfustan gov- J emments. it, Bophuthatswana j

government I© get nd of noo- Tswana people a the area These people ha>e oeen called 'squatters' anc fore:gnen It is said that Bophuthatswana u ‘mfested' with then, and taa : thev are talung resource: froas Tswanas lr. reahr>. aarry of the •squatters'

‘foreigners not only own land in Bophutnaawana but have lived there for ioeger than many

A great many of them were dumped the Nationalist government aarmg the removals of the I960* and 70 s. None of them wanted to bve in Bophuthatswana All they wanted was a home in South Afnca Bui when the Bophuthatswa&a 'nation' was

created in 197S they found themselves in a difficult position where ifcey v e r t suddenb, ~ ju t4 m m areas they had come to regard as home.The morr fundso^ntal threat to

white domination in hootti Atnca has always been the existence of a united national movement of ail oppressed people

As Dr Verwoerd understood it is only once this national response u divided that white oominauon can continue lo exist.

The development of ethrocm as a major factor in the development of bantustans not only poses tbe km* term threai of thousands ol persecuted refugees be:ng forced to fier tbeu homev but also the threat of peoples frustrations anc a rg c : about their oppression betng directed aga.nst each othe; rathe: than agairsi the s\-stetr. which n at the root of then suffenng

Ethnic rule threatens human life• from P ag* 77incorporated into QwaOwa. at a later date This was Orverwacht or Botsabelo — *tbe pJace of refuge'

k c a n » * b to Onvu-rwacht begar. in the wmter of 1979. People were provided with numbered farm stands (often on rocky. hiD> soil) and had to bu;ld their own shelters with an\ material they were able to obtair.The people remo-vec were described by tbe commis

sioner of Co- ooerauon and Development in the Free Slate as 'blacks living illegally .. tn TTiaba Nchu.’ Most of these people were Southern Sot no but a large number of Xhosa. and a number ofT swana who had, refused to la te out Bophuthatswana citizenship also moved

QwaOwa authonnes repeatedly demanded tunsoic- tK>r. over Soihos *r Bophuthatswana anc attempted to mobilise their suojects to make the same oemand At the same ume Bophuthatswana authorities attempted to gain the political support ot their Tswana constituency. tbn>ug' ethnw discrimination Onverwacht reLeved Mangope of a maior source of

dissaosfaction in Thaba Nchu where Soth> s were prob- aWv in the majonrv The removal was a lv ; a response !o

escalaung confrontations between supp?oen of the Bc^phuthatswana and QwaQwa authonnes

Severe fight;ng broke out tn May 1977 resulting tr 13 deaths On several occasions South Afncsz poiice were required to break up violence betwerr Tswana and Sotho police, and had to restrain Isw am police frvro violent raids on Sothos in Thaba Nchu Onverwachl. the biggest resettlement a s o ir South.

A frica, has received widespread p u b l ic s T h e South African government tned to give it a face ic . and a massive housing programme was launched c newer sections Nothing has cr.anged for the earlier refugees

They cannot afford the deposit for tae aew houses Two Onverwachts exist — the old square* camp anc the new area for more stable work>ngpejr*e Because of the housing free2e in Bloemfontein aad housing shortage in Thaba Nchu 1 swan as are no» appiving fcr

| houses in the new section ai Onverwacht i Recently Mr M okaie. a Bophuthatswana M ? stated

tha: ‘squatte* cancer' was nfe in the baorastan and a i squatter sq ua i' had been established tn 'ptaoe fo:I al: .

STATE OF THE NATION 30

Flra by Or •witch s o+*U t*h work? Natural A u m r s are oftan N a w tl on aociai

t t r 1 FARMWORKERS STATE OF THE NATIQ*. 31

Farmworkers produce the T u i t i o n ’s food, yeL^^they often go hungry

HARVESTERSHERE IS bo hm i! to b c m bad the

K w o rt coodzckom o f farmwork ers css be. Recent expoaes have made

this dear. A nd harsh legislation andur.bending em p lo ye r ! m ak e it d ifficu lt for them to change jo b a

F arm w orkers canno t le g a lly m ove from a en cu ltu re to an o th er industry unJess they have o f f ia a l ap p ro v al T h is a on ly g iven if th ere is a su rp lu s of farm lab o ur in the a re a or if the ecsp io ye r ag ree s The

law s help to k eep t&em out o f th e u rban a reas.

I Ic sp ite of th is it a com m on for ch ild ren o f fa rm w o rte n to ftee the farm s. The resu lt is that th e ir o k : p a ren ts a re ev icted as soon as they a re e n a b le to work

F arm w orkers w ho lose th e ir jo bs also lose th e ir ao co m o caao c . T hey a re forced to look for ano ther farm o r m ove to the banm stans.T he rootf of the lab o u r tenan t system

stretch back in to the 19th ocntury. l in d e r th is system A dnexa fam ilies liv ing o r w h ile - ow ned fa n m supp lied the lan d ow ner w ith their lab o u r for p a n of the y e a r in return for bttJe o r no w age and the right to graze stock a n d cu ltiv a te som e land .

In 1964. the 1936 D evelop m ent T rust and Land A n w as am en d ed to em pow er the M in ister of B an tu A dm in istra tion to abo lish labour tenancy en tire ly or put lim its on its u se . B y 1980 labo ur tenancy had been abo lished throughout South A fr ica .

B u i in u iany p an * o f the o o u rtry featu res of this system s t il l rem ain . ST A T E O F T H E N ATIO N spoke to S ipho and T hem b e ta T sh a b a ia ia . w o rkers on a farm n ear P iet R e t ie f abou t cond itions of farm w orkers in the a re a .

SIPHO: THE STORY of our life is that we were bom on the firm s W e w ort on the farm We work for six moeiris for the farm and we get RIO from the tanner That money is enougn to buy tobacco only for smoking and one candle Before the o e r . -nonth comes that RJO is not there, it » »o*»g mushed You have to go to someone a t e and borrow money

Do you have cattle ?

SIPHO; Yes. we have cattlc. Even if they are oolv two or three Some have six. Yet we will a ll wort in the sell-same way. If you raise ten cows, they don’t want it. No. They say there are too m an). They complain that they are g raang . that their grass wi!l be finished by the animals of black people. They say their canle rnusr also eat and the farm belongs to them. If you buv a oow you must not bnng it to the farm You must find another place tor it Bui where w ill you find a place, because all places

j are the same'*' You become verv bankrupt dunng the month i and vou have nothing in y ou r pockct ' Yes. as for us. we live here on the farms, we

And then at the end of the month vou have to i were bom here You work for something that take your next RIO amt repay it to that person I » not there. We have no leave. even a i the end

| the machine- They don't want us to ptmgh I We muit be g-veo m aue by them at tre e u ! of ;* titc wages you have earned for all these c

you have warred and you buy one of [

I n»eai is. ' \

1 Do you na*9 ch ild ren ?

( SIPHO We do have children who are « : the I I same pouuoc in Johannesburg and evervuung !: has gone u r and so their mone^ gets fiaiihec j I buying fooc mere. T here is nothing can j ! look for there. Even if we look for money.

they are far away and we look for 100 pounds ;I or 200 pounds Here we think you have a great 1 deal of money if you have 100 pounds Du' j i really it ts no* much anymore.

I h o w d id the six m onths system w?rk 7 i

SIPH O ' For six months you worked foe t> e i farmer onN and for a place to stay and tood tc i eat. For those m months you got not a cent j

I Now for tha: six months of the farrr w? ge: |; 'th a t toba<xo money of R10 For the c m six i

months we get R20 Today we got pajd R2Ci j- . Last month we got that R10. Look here a n y j

R20 One month's full pay.We work from 7.30am to 5pm d v n c i the j

week. On Saturdays we knock off at lpcr. and ( get borne at 2pm. Some am es we have to «ork j on Sundays and we get no extra pay fo: -.ai Things were better before, at leas: we j

ploughed and get our owr food you Idon't plough or raise stock. We used tc raê j ca ttle . 20. 30 or 40 Then a you nac a prooaerr.

of the vear. We wort right through There a j you *ok1 a Now when a calf is bora« ciust no bonus. You are oot allowed to leave and grow up and then you must sell another cow .work outfidc When you'n- finished with the keep ine calf. Or voumus: sell the caândfarm and that R10 you get R20. Now it is sawj j keep the co * . Now I have six cows and I n not vou are working for wages For these months j allowed more than that He took ou; fields that you would have left the farm you now He u not ploughing them. They are left lust w ort for R20 Ever since * e came to this place like that. All the whites around here c£uged

e have been forced to wort like that.

Why don t you leave this place ?

SIPHO: We arc not people who are visiting or oeopie who are passing through We were born here. N e have not seen another place. We were bom nght here on this farm.

Dc you plough?

SIPHO: No we don't plough We get ‘behind

at the same ume The old system was bene: The children”’ They are not healthy Nobody

who lives here on the farms is health ' Our lives are heavy Y et. if you want to take your things and lea ve how can you go’ What rwn-y w ill you use to move your possessions' And your cattle, where will you take your came''

Some try to run to the reserve. Some wilt run away but some don’t have the money tc leave Even though ! » a s born here maybe cae aay 1 will leave this place, just like that, leave t? If

• To P » 9 « 32

STATE OF THE NATION 32FARMWORKERS

F ARMWORKERS ARE lefallv the least protected o t the workforce They arr aiso the most vulnerable m attempting 10 organise themselves T h a r scattered location and the fact Uia: emp.avrr.eni and borne arr linked make* them weak m re la a or

to farmer* and m anafem er:The National Fedcranor of W orken attempted to organise farmworker*,

but tins initiative peiertd out. Only the Orange Vaa: General W orken Union (O VG W lfl aa* organised farmworen on a sustamrC basis Here. Pluup Masia. of tne OVGWU. ip c a b about some of the taaues

structure the orgacisatior snd her* we arc going to m ate these d em and Theae are major problems We can’t ever p u ip o a t which one u b ig?— thar. the other So the first major proclem u that there is no legisiaDoo to cover these people. And thr second pm bkm a that you carmot get these peop*e to m eetings. they are landlocked.

ABOther prob lent is illiteracy . T h a hampers the drstnbuooc of umcc m aterial*

Are you organlaing Tarmworxar* on*y?

WE are organising farmworkers, the munkapÛTy to^ recently at Eacom power static*

On what typa of farm* 60 yo« organtae?

OUR first coo tad was with w orten 00 big coTporxooD-c^w&i tanns but we also'have cociact wrtu w orken on pnvatf (arm* atthc*gh we see * major problem with prvr&tc farma.

W at ft no* em eu* to gaf - sco asa to company term s?

WE were »oc pret*nad to go through the c iiacaea lc ask (or access and perrmso o a The tnaxv ager oc c m p a r y fanas » there but is not ao interested a exactly who oocae* and goes oc tne tarm. Private farms are a tamny a f ia r and the tanner arants to k a o » what’s goiag o c . It ts always neceaa*n toactualhget onto the fanaa To try and bring farmworken w io tb e office wouldrequire tranapon

What a r t the dtftSc**tle* of otganiamg tarm w orkxa?

THESE people are aex covered at ail by any fcgxalaboe except erf late with workmer.s compensation wtuch is covermj them and the M achm en and Oceacmtxmal Safety Act which coven taem " T ha n

| related 10 beaitn and safetyOn benefits aac «etw protection

they ooc't have an y tan g . We are therefore using eo e jo ot la * to organise these w orkrrt. And o f course we arc lookup at orgamsa- c o t itaetf to force tae government rnS ?armen anc otaer w orten m South Afnc* ic recognise that farmworkers must hr«e mcaiangful rights to protect ± a t

O’ . rrnmeAats difSraJrv is how to

Are tha paopie working orcorporation la m a migrant worker* of parm anant atafT?

ANGLO*Amerscar. apc o aliaca m permanent w orken but then The firm s run by Prenwer Milling prefer cm grant labourers The Aagio farms ako oat seaano a l workers at

Where do thay 9a* tha eeeeonal labour toroe?

FROM Kxrrumaa we haven't really tnod ao «nder stand the situazaaB of araanoai w orken yet. We a re abU concentrating 00 permanent w orken To

wilJ be necesaan 10 try and make the permanent w o rten gndc m a ad the position of the aeaaonal work - e n It would be aeceaaary to try aad get the permanent w orken to protect the ngbu of seasonal w o rk en

| Otherwise they vcaud be betplea*

la tha threat Ofavtetforr * v*' 1 protMarr- hw ra ?

I THIS B one <* t i* ttuEJO that prevena as tro c puatnnr. auv hard

, line The (act is tha-. the job ts hnkr.a to accomodathff: The diaboijcaJ tbmg is that the evicted tarm worwr booegs to neither t m rai rearrve nor a a ty They oecooe ehsoiaard persons

W e have hmitnd socceaa m fighting Xhia On one farm aoane evicted farm workers managed to stand up for thexr nghta Coamsort iaw aays

-the farmer most get a court order to evict peopk living 00 his f a ro . Thss postpones and xieiaTS t f m y On thn farm the fanner dsd get a court o rder. the farww orken shared thesr pca e a w a among*, the o then and became k x ig m with tiaoae that remamed Of oourse we are sdU ukm g a risk bocsuae theae peopk could be got for trospassutg Bu. we said ‘when n co n es n ts the next harcLe' -T herr ■ another caae of a large

farm o f A n gJo -A »en ca i It ha* cicwed d m Th* reaa. why it has doaed down is aun«uM .«d by secrecy W orsen were p v a p er- t>oru and two monthi v thefarm The two mcntft* erK kt oc Rcpubix Dsv. We apocr to tar manager and they w a r grven anevtner 15 days But they L a ^ r jt left We itill feel tha: thr> must he > removed oy a court orocr onkas* Ovry grre a n c r r ie rtiaon s why they c*oaec the ta jic down Because we have ouj cwec theories M u c of the canle 00 the farm were anffmng from contagsous aoortjoc wtnct cause* brucelloan in cattle and people We suspecied that these gays were canng more for their cattle than people. Because they d idr ' even warn the workers tha. contag? oua abortsoo can affect people.

Wh»l about p « O c Jo « ?

' WE have been trying tc get thatj consaousness m w orken W e actu

ally had a day seminar looking at tac schedule which ts to be releasee

I with the regulations — tee!m g that this ■ actually not enougb — that u ia too short. And then we naned

! M i M i I • T T 3 8 B

a r a r r ^ ' f f i i t g . y r . K - v r . Mtoriamg 1 . o eauaaes and weediodes tt. raise tne cxw»*aouanesj of tbe farm worken aa tar as * e pots<»oou» auoatirror* thrv are uasrg and tc t u f op the Question of hearth and saf&tv V>> navr asked ia n ew to tnuig us tb«- laoe-ts o.' the pois*/tl they are usuig sc- ’J iat we car) ax »i vse the matrna* "ihu is bo* we got 0010 tbe quesr*on of cx/oiajpous sbortxit s farmworker broupht us some of the labels of die me«l»ane3 they are usmg

Whan d id you a t a r i oryania- Ir* tarm work ara?WE didn’t start o rj^w sing farmworkers. They began to organise themselves. We weie oi uusing s av d construction company which was constructing a canid through all these farms The farmworkers had daughters and anves with them- The enpneenng guvs didn’t. So the a v il engineering guys started visiting the farmworkers and their families The civil

engineering guys were verv rower fui. They had about three strikes

1 which ~ were witnessed by the farmworkers And the farm »orken started discussing it with use construction workers And we ta>d to the farm worken . ‘if you are ready to defend your interests we are willing to be of aaautance.'bu: you’ll have to 00 it .’h o w d id A n g lo r a a p o n d

1 w h a n th a y r a a l l a a d th a t f a r m w o rk e r * w « a o rg «~ i» - in g th a m a * J v e a . '>

IT was a mixed reaction. Or thr | other hand they were using trr

fanr managers to mOrmdaie• farmworkers N u*.bow ev- »e 1 t*avs co r*minee-> or: the* Anîo-Amcncan f»nr<s a n : a :ew

w eek tage the^ granted a» »crrss u1 the farms

H a^ e v o i a t a r ta d n e g c -^ a c n o _ w*th A n g lo o v a i w aoes*?

j NO tt a ju*t -nforina* negc :aSr£\ ovrr rerxjgmtioc — tna; are i going to have committees o r the | farms.! You mentioned the I dtffeience b«tw*en private 1 farms and company-cwn«d ; tarma?

| V>rT i .1 , oond't >ns are worsr cm the j private farms but on pnvatt {arms,

workers do have some access to land and do have a bn o! stoc*.. Thu

: a soli a tradition on the iarms. as 1 most farmworkers would h i : some ; bvestock and a piece land

although this does make in e r more j vulnerable because they tav - more I to lose if they are evicted Ffneopie

Working for nothing — farmworker# F-rom P ag# 311 could get a means to go. if I could go to the reserves aad have a look and say .'h ere is a place to liv e '. ! would go there Except I am living here.

When I am old these young boys wiU take my place on the farm. If you get old o r the farm the boer comes and says. ‘You can’t stay here if you are not working —' where are the children*” And the children have run away. They run away from this svstem of working for nothing -—Has m ere never been a union o r a g roup o f farm workers try ing to solve these p rob lem s ?

SrPHO' No, people have not done that To meet and t»iv and say that farmers snould give us mone\ One person will say ’What are you doing, you are only making a noise and making trouble'*' People are afraid You see even if there are 10. 12.20 m a gang the farmer

will say. ‘He is the one *h o apokc first. H e b f c one making the trouble '

We hear that in the farms such things as un*jcs arc discussed, but how will that happen here whet there is no unity** WTiai can you do7 We hear fro-r other people that there are laws which are like this aaC bke this and like this and that people can form organisations to enforce these laws.

But here, these farmers don’t want organisations they don't w art us to speak to them. And uaere are o then who wili go to the farmer and sav the orrarisa- tion is speaking about you Those are im p o r t . If there is a m eeting, no m atter where, there art those who will go to the meeting and they wiil sav ‘w a i ooes this m eeting say. ooes u say anything which haras the whites'. They return then and follow vou up Eu‘ you are the person who is talking to people again*: Ckr ta? • m en

Pest poisons kill hundreds of farmworkers

c a r t to prrm O : material aid for the orgamiaooa erf farmworkers, I teel, that farmworkers can even come up with a raaadesto as to what they want Bet taey will need a lot of support. And zaat's where 1 think trade union* are -rgymg behind in not giv- in i tanD«<sra£T» support.

Are there other union* which •re oryem e'-ig farmworkers?

(N Natal the Naoonai Federation of Worker* m ec to organise fannwor t e n but ti peaered oat. In Beaufort West there ts an organisation of farmworker* The organisation of

farmworkers a very difficult The raising of coosoousoesc is (he first thing It » of course important that farmworker* koow that support and organisation is necessary before demands can be made

Do y o u th in k It w o u ld b e p e t a l W e to o r g a n is e f a r m w o rk e r * in N a ta l?

1 think Natal would be difficult E socoally where workers a rt living ir. the reserve* Without the approval o ' the chiefs you can t have a meeting,.

How 0o«* lncr»a*ins

have no future and nowhere to go

Pestiaoes increase farmers profits. t>ut snonen worxers' i*ves

B e t w e e n i970and i980.fouxdeaths trocn potsooing mere

o ffic ials reported id the W -atera C ape. However. a snady of the state ■mortuary po«t-mortem results revealed 104 deaths by poisoning

7U percent of these vtcams lived on fanm

O fboal figures of case* of potsor- trtg for the who*- cou n tn , nated

m e c h a n is a t io n a f t e c i o r g a n is a t io n ?

THIS ts our big tea.-. tha: mechanisation a going to replace a lot of labour. Maybe it is possible to get workers to resist tins mechanisation But we know that we are not organised enough tc take up this sort of action Workers aisosee n as making things c

Are peopie on the corpora tion farms who ere quite •killed, tor Instance, drivers, not tempted to leave the farm s and try and get jobs In

What is the pos ition o f people who live in the ortmtM i * e* t f ) e r o n a ?

Those oeopte are poor. These people h*ve no children in the towns sc help them We would all be like them tf we didn't have children m Jo ’burg. We would die SIPHO Tbrre ts another reason why we can't leave this piace Wnen you get that RIO from him you borrow another RIO at the same time We are caught by debts. The child ts sick, you go back you send your child to ancftfter doctor. With whai do you send the child”’ A g a a you must borrow from the farmers. Until, until, until you owe more than 100 pounds, not rands So vou can '’ *eave here because you must still repay thai rocne* And how can you pay him before you leave*’And then Ssere a the pass That pass will bring /ou

back fasi eaough They would catch you. yes. catch

| that iheTf were 832 reported cases ; i of pesoodai poisomrg resulting in 1 j 94 deaihi.| According to offio*. figures the 1 d is incu in South A rv a with the j ! highest reported rates A porsorung ' : are Barbenon Neisprw: and Harts- ,

water This reveals tka: u m w o r | I ke*r are the peop»e Bearing the

brunt of pesticide hertaovie and insecna.'.r poisoning

If figures for the w n t« ajuntrv arr W esirm| ar inaccurate as ta^ w esirm j

Cape s. up to 2 35u people rmgr' ■have died of poisons* between . !9?1 And I9K2.No one is clear on long-term ;

effect? ot ixmsoi. . ToCi* there arcDKITT Uuu- -t t rtw i -*«•» ^to d e^ or insecticides t>*auable The e tie^ s o f these pestvr^cs include cancr: b n b defect s.- oftspn g anc ta i.-g e to the rr i : r nervous

nvt: lung:tv* i r ' Lidnev, 4T«1

Often the chemicai lansiances *»«l! be »lored in fat cells causing poter hal long-term effects. Ks mans pesticides have m cred«ae ab ilit . to

_l penetrate the skin « - aosorpuort! is common and dangercc*I W hile there ts stn-r. control over

the production of ptsson in factories. there is no am rroi over the

The move : storage and use of ther. on farmsThe Workmen's Ccîpeiuation

town*?THEY are. W orkers are not ore pared to let then children leave •chooi in standard five ~ m en: to towns is impeded b> thelaws But farmworkers are also i Act does cover farmworker* If genuinely attached to the land, even ; worker suffers an accrxn t. then he though it does not belong to them. , or ^ comperjated How-Once a worker on a dairy farm said ‘ e v c . amount ot n c te y paid out

I

yon You’d be brought b a c k to w o r k a g a i n There is no D ia c e to run a w a y to. You'll go out on your o w n and you’ll die w h e r e you go to.When you are o ld do you n o t g e t anyth ing from the farm er? v

THEMBEKA: Nothing, nothing, nothingYou can ask for those pensions Six months and you

still won’t get the money. The pensions of Piet Reoef or Ermek) or Amersfoort. You spend six months, you go by bus You hire cars. You'll get nothing ai all until you leave it. You won't get any-rung you’ll leave it, you’ll su down You waste your money tor that transport just for a ’m aybe' chance.Even if you ge: your pension, yoc get it todav and

tomorrow it ts finished and you are borrowing mone> again. Whatever money vou get is gone It is used up paying debts

*we must have action here . we roust have a stnke ’ Another worker stood up and said ’when the cartle start bellowing you'll go from the house and s u n feeding them Are you going to let these ooor animals go hungry just because you are angry with vout bosses ? ’The workers tftal you are organising are on corporation farms. Aren’t they tne

I best-off farm workers in tne j country?I IN some ways this ts true, but bad ' things happen here as well. There | are assaults for instance on I farmworkers However where we I have organised, managers don't | seem to want to assault workers a^

much. That's why we want to organise the whole region. We haven’t yet gone acros* the Vaal to the heart of the Free State. We don’t want to stretch resources

j Whet about education for ! farm w orkers'ch ildren? i Children can only go up to standard I five on the farm schools and then I must trv and find a place at a school I in town Not only is this expensive

but children from the towns gel pre- I ference

ey paid c deoends or. the w a g t o f the w orse n — the lower the w a jts . the les& money paid out for them nc injurv The use of pestiooes aiso affects

ruru* people in ocoe- ways Research in K w iZ ux shows an increasing number o: cases of mus-

I broom and mginc potfcmng i Poor people car w u : mginc as a I source of protein It b their main I soutct of protem eaten with < pnuihu at least three tn e * a week.

The potsomng resuhs hxxt, weed I killers, and insectiaoes c u t farmers j use in their canefiea^. In 1980 I peoole were warned against pick mg j mgmo or mushroom> < at grow in

between the cane rows. But peoo*e • continue to pick bon mushrooms,

and mg)nos because of aunger.The number of potsosng cases has

risen since i960. A ; Saandla hospital there were 23 icn u s io m for poisoning in the ■chuarra's ward tn 1981. and 23 in Nkandlaserves the Babanangotiis^nct which ts a predominantly wsite farming areaPes.xndes are usee r* farmers to

increase their profit* out n is the furm »o,'kers and ther Mindies »h o face the dangers of inr- use

STATE OF THE NATO* S3

STATE OF THE NATION TRIBAL AUTHORITY

RIDING THE BACKS OF THEI N AT LEAST TWO corn

el unities onratened with removal. Kwangema and

Dnefontein, Presoru has mcti 10 manipulate reaoenu try dealing with people * nas appointed at duelsT rad itional!'. a e th e r Kwangems

or Dnefontein » ever bad a chief as leader of thr crannnmity

In Kwanfenu. G am el Ngema cooperated witt a * fovem m eai tn the remcrv aJ of tfie I hO families from their n a i and t e n * tarn: He had been chosen tn !S : commumry as the “eye" o f the Njprnu fa nr hr — tc

I represent j : in Ooaiinj with oucsid- e n Bu' wber toe did nothing to oppose the renwrvai. » dc<* commii tee. led by V taao Ngenu was elected a: a metramj. m March 1982. But although U m ei and the new

ooomunee wear ts the cormma- b o n r tt WnLirretrnoen tc rrpatei the meeting o & u h cootiDuec: to deal witb Gab n c . Through him thev orgarased a: KwaNgema to take the peorwr x> the new area He authoraed o c ju tc be cut dtwm on Ngema land * a t k e way for the enlargem est of a e Heysbope d a n . aac be agreed tna; the people’s boose* be n u m te-e i When ofneuis c*me lo number

th r r hocaes — Gar first s*gn of an tmpcDdmf r e » r * x — the people pmxesteo The Pretoria offkxak said *Yc m r+ur * b u agreed to go, »ow«hy do vou tafia anoutienm m ng behind?"

But as AUrec N grm i. eider of KwaNgetas. s*v-i "Oabne! was never a chief a a c they art -wrong when they say d tms chief leaves we m ud aiao go. G aen d 't role was that of being ■ watcn mat.', the sarac as a security guard ac ■ firm 1 don't rrcaii s single a o c of a aecunry guard selling a fire : *Ax a agn of Tfsamsi for Gabriel » !

oo-operaooo. dfce D epaitmen’. of | Co-operaooc s ethnoiog»J :

announced tha: G abnel was U se ;

successor to the ongznaJ owner of 1i the land, and saac the govemmen: |

had no opooc Bar so deal witb him alone

A innpkT exp^mation of this I n o » t came froet Ben Wilmas | Deputy Minister of Develojwica: and l A ffacv T h e government a negouaaftj with the tribal leaden of the aaun um ry We are not deaheg wrtfc peop»c who say they are the efcned representatives. as we oouac then find ourselves with p rob w as 'Unfortunate^ for Pretoria, Gab

riel died O f f a i i began to deal with his younger hrotheT. Cuthbert, who has virtuahv mo support octude h r munediaxe family. On 1 December \9& far was mstaiied as

M o m s Ngwma » b c t r 3 *eade* o* Kara r ^ ( M

The bantustan chiefs do Pretoria's dirtiest work — controlling people who are at the bottom of apartheid's heap.“Acting Chief of the Ngema tribe". Ngems lawyers took the m atter to the Supreme Court. Although the oase has been remanded dll the a d dle of February,.Pretoria has been barred from negotiating with Cuthbert antu a settlement baa been reached.

Indirect rule through chaeb u d tribal authorities has bee** so n c - oeaafui m reserve* that Pretoria now

determined to appb it in freehold areas as well.

Bui the forms of persuaasoe tha; induce chiefs to reaettie — suet as bribe* of hixunous farmhouse* and choacr l*nd — become more 4 il- 6a il t when officials art forced to negotiate wun the elected lead en of freehold areas. Pretoria's answer ts to create chiefs ii no re*j one* can be found.

The happened in DnefoGtesD, another threatened freehold area m the south-eastern Transvaal At Dnefontein, commtimrv leadei Saul M kiuze, fough'. a long battle for the recognition of h a comzmi- tee . the Council Board of Directors

Even when it was proved that tins committee entered majont> sut> port. officials aonnnued to Dcgoaate with the <i^credited Com- muniry Board. ' ' '> v

In June 198? a mass meeting with senior government oftxaafc was held after Saul Mlhz&e was shot dead by a pohoeman a i a puboc

L ater. when i t became xk m ou i that nertbei commrace was open to ■umpulatMXi, a Mr Gneaaei of the D eparcnen: of Co-operatioc and Development be*an to have secret meeting: with the only two Comm unity Board mem ben willing to move — and a third person, >ende. a landowner at Dnefontem. to whom Co-operatioo and Development began to refer as “Chief*.But the people a: Dnefontein describe bun in no uncertain terms as “a chief without foiiowen".

One, Chief S»du. hves at tswepe. j The other. Chief Shabalala. ts an : agent of Chief M andlaN getrpia I who hves in the kaN gwane bannis- I ta r who. it is alleged, ts attempting

to recrui new -followen to boo*: tus salaryIt seem* these three -chiefs have

been adviaed by Pretoria <o try- tc boost theu support amung>i the inhabitants of Dnefomein by making it necessary for all residents to have a ctuefs stamp m their reference books Without tne»e stamps, people would be unable to gr*. pas se*. pensions or seek employment. But. rather than give oedioilirv to theae created chii^s the Dnefoo- teu. coranam tv tus chosen to ignore theae inacrucoomBut they worry that Pretoria mig*'.:

nov o t f im ly legrslatr chiefs through a government gazetteThe relasonsftip between these

“chiefs" and Pretoria was made clear at a meeting held last October in Dnefontein

Shabals, agent of the Kangwane chief, arrived at the meeting v ith a band of lo llow en When ar, ofticia asked who was prepared to roovc Sbabalu and his followers jumped up and indicated their willingness to move That the> were no' exact;> residents of Dnefontein dud not seem tc- bother the officia!

Indvina* 0tvN«o trw oramr*.

KwaZulu’s indur.as — a weight on shoulders o! the poorCCS*JtUPDON iyu w e r 11 -ilad auovntu cot of ur. peoptr la arru kw aZ aii. p«- w&t+c* tc l chief rr or-irr to ebiata n W ttx* find n r mf Pwb 2 Unrversit> o( LaWamd orw w rd i projectO uter AaiUafi wrrr.

#Hwph had u> pay a m lo r tfcer «ir% ar their fV w . ar both Lo m area, tshabnaw s lo pay ar. ■■nun Irvy of rm lo r fields or forfeit their n p o l pioufh or pu o i far a *«.■•A bout a fifth of tboar mmrvw

TRIBAL ALTHORT1ES in tha C«»ke carry out inatructiona fror^ h igher authoritie*. Moat of the m a tt* * d w u a a a d in the tribal council concern w ays o f raia ing funds from people The unpopuiarrry of the trib al authority

m ean* tnat cco rtiJ io ra taka on th is office re luctantly The w o rt w e are doing »s bad. Thera is no ia*wera for h. I do ft b ecau ae it is a dut\- tha tribe* au tho rity g av e to m e Vet w e get nothing for e£ th is. I have lo st in terest in

a to start pay in g us. J ed in sub-headm an-

iL Even if theyw ould not be sh ip '.

In the Am atoia B eein , the tribal au thority aet up 21 lev ies lo r specific protects over c period of two y s r s Of th ese only four concerned tha k x » com m unity M any other lev ies were re*swC for social occeaions like the installation a chief in ano ther area , as w ell as for the in itiation and w edd in g of ch*efs' sons

i Every year the v ib a l council co llects dona 1 to n s for 'nee<* peop le in Ciakei. It ia neve^

m ade c ieaf ho«a th is m oney is d istributed and where th eee needy peop ie a re locateo .

J The tribai a u r « m y c o n t i n s o f tha chief,! two aa lariad heeom en and n ineteen council-

Serving Sebe, not the peopleAuthority in Ciskei isunchecked — except bySebe himselfk>ra w ho a re not paid . The councillors who rep resen t their v i llag e s a re nom inated by the tnDal au thority rtaelf.

The council p re ssu r ise s the councillors to attend m eetin gs , ft w as o eo d ed to introduce a R2 fine for an y sub -h eadm an w ho fails to a ttend these m eetings . Sub -headm en or councillo rs extrect lev ies and aom etim es councillo rs era fined for failing to p resen t trie nam es of peop le w ho do not co-operate with the tribal au thority .

W hen peop le do not p ay fines im posed by the tribal co u r t the tribal authority au th o rises th e m essen g e r of th e court to attach the atoc* or property belonging to peop le w ho have been fined

Tha tr ib al authorrty has power to im pose fines for a w id e ran ge of ‘o ffences ’ In 1960 stu den ts at the local h igh school boycotted c ia sa e s en d defied their teachers at the ecnoo l. A fraid that stu den ts w ou ld bum do w r tbe achoN *he tribal au thority in structed m en from a ll th e v illag e s to take turns in g u ard in g the school a* n igh t. A num ber of m en w ere fined for failing to accep t their turns.

The pow er of the ch iefs in the A m ato ia Basin w a s resu rrected by the Bantu Authorities Act of 195*. Colonial ru le w as es tab lish ed here after the 1850/53 w ar be tw een the X hosa and the British.

S in ce then tbe ch ief’s authorrty w as underm ined to the ex ten t that in the ear1> 195C's ch iefly trad ition s w ere no longer ol an y sig n ificance to the peop le liv ing in the Keiskam- mahoeic d is tr ic t

Now the tribal au thority sy s tem runs a lo n gs id e the po litics of tha Ciske* National Independence Parry Each area has a local o rgan isa tio n of the ru ling parry.

T rapped in the C iskei through influx control. rural peop le have to bea^ the opp ression of both Party and chief. _______

eeaeribeC the land as o»e-r aad cm ld pm grow crect Dwtrib«itioo of hrkis !a*oa ■ ttM bbsd latoihra. nac

c m the#J-orty percent of the pccai satBpie alkêd that It ww w m m prat ttoc IB tbesr areas that Mry Sad lo p a r the total todays fcrfa r i thr* exmki » p p tj fo r p e n w w dkabthry grants. Tbear praBR< were expected le b t ia tbf i s r a af a s h . the tadeos's !w larr w pavmf for bu tuoeh. A | im a ai the ftm penssoc pov-roee. acrepCed.Chief Batheteri, Iw t ’ tr

aapoortj the irotltutsoe af ilarltkim as can hr seen from s com a o s ilr stear LJtdysmlch in Frbrwar* a n year, at the in stallsbo i of CW f Nsiksrexw* Srthoie as eta*/ a f thr Sltho«es

‘Tbe ussQtixtioc of cste f'jm c^ h a penpie'i JwotnOor l i s a r usRrament wtuch has se-*ri Mact people fo r several urnn-an—j . it bas always heec s deoocncjc iastiu itior.... There is ar b k ?Cheap talk ahoui ciueftasarr i by poJincaiW-illiteratr ■ th&t I find fc neeessar* s this In order thar thr rmmti'aiw; of ehieftaino- can oe t e n m m carrcn perspcctivt. *

A tension does however e s s within Ickatha It « « « r B at he s popoLar movemeni a p m c e r powrr o1 Pretoria and (hr M*e Vel the faodividoai expenence oT » suite's pow«r b tbrooy* tar r a d authority at a local levo f-w lakatha to support c4ur4i a as andennioe their own p i^war a p p a l.

However the leadership t t aaaalha is the same as the leaderu** at U>* KwaZulu itoveromeot. Thi KwaZulu Legbiaovr kaaemrr-- c om prvv, s « c*ear ns/onn a' cfisefs, with ejected cwnmnoen hadhif only 55 seat* as opposee la Sk 76 held by chiefs. Buthetes ta u tuu to be sensitive to pressure frta? mis quarter There nai atrea ty a n oar

TRIBAL AUTHORITYSTATE OF THE .N A TO *

PEOPLGiven the

power over land and Saw

the chiefs are..J

Growing fat on j tribal corruption

•ttraiM p create an ©ooafhôo v the kin* as tallying pmmu

At a load level there a

tribal authority. Oft** CW iocal Infcatha leadership eoMUtt of bttsneom cs is the I chieia as bocirward a There is a continuous and

wide-fpread abuse o( power as a direct result of tbe r u a of duels and todonas (o rural u r s i

AJtbowjti the role of duefi and todonas b dearly o o f of control tbet also assume ttx rote of itp ttsm ts- lire of tbesr areas. Ovaade agenda wanting U> I

tnrougfc the tribal mtthortt >.This often leads to the btorfto of

such projects being creamed ofT by f * K«» e^»* »r ' he «**■!* of

The aUocatioe of oogar quotas through the tribal authority In thr M pduttvau area Indicated thta. Of the fir* 276 ha, 50 ha went to the chief and four tndonu Thus Are household brads oat of as estimated2 500 or ,002 percent of the population received 18 percent of the quota it b poasibie that quotas went to

people with land allocations la rjt enough to make cuidvatkw worth while. What this reveals though is the aneven distribution of land ea

In 1974 the KwaZoh Legislative Ajeembiv pa sard legislation which BMy every chief subject to the authority of the KwiZmu government and them powers of arresl and search.

Chiefs and tribal authorities have real power over people la their areas. Thu power is eaerrbed through the allocation of land and alao through the direct control of tribal courts.

Pretoria baa (cmitd the poiicy of tedtrrci rule t&rougC chiefs extreme** naefu!.i s l*a~ the state president became

the ‘Soponue ChieT and band?imiasaoorr and ntber ipputDto)

offtaai* hac tanatediai* aotborr.* over thr chiefs. The sctu pre*i6ec. had the power to recogmae an* peraon be choae as duef. could depone am . and promulgate reguiaoon preacnouig Utr tfbUo and privileges of duefs. Chiefs were paid by the government and were

! *WE A R£ gothg to p v r the p tm n c jn ! chiefs farms they ar>- the tradiDooaJ le a o m & our people .. yen* canao* do i a o with chieftainship .. in the Tran*- kei. The people dcrwn there. a»e

I underdog. wiD not care lor .. the vosoe of the frw educated leaden AJL1 they want .. a tha: ifce paramount chierf o u u be lookeJ after property. . and m aL‘ things they want to know what u the opinion and new of the paramount chief or the chief* O w u v d ) Diko m 1976 Transke.-Legislative A m ezbiy Debate over granting trust farm* to paramount duets tor persona! use as s reward for ther role to the

! ‘struggle for mdependeoce

The chiefs’ strangle- hold on the landControl of land a probably thr

moat c t u c l area of com rooof and control m the T tansko A r nnpo-r

1 tant base lor the chiefs powrr a the allocation of land. The communa,’ land tenure svateas aJicw i every male Transkiian tc acquire a plot of

i land pro sided be is roamed ovr: 21 , i years o', age and up to date wild h s ; taxes

However, appbeaoom for land ■ must be ac co m p an y bv pavmenp tc the chief of alcohol, poultry ibeep cr ever, a r o i

Courts that take away your land

j An individual's araok plot can be allocated to another merorvr- o*'

1 community oc the pretest tb it ii *, not bemg properly u t ii iv c Thu?

*troubicrr.<»ken' i?i the comai uriTv car h a — 'and taxen • » « , r-rm ; tacm

Cu*toovsr> u v empower? i chief or beadman to reallocate iaud t/tl is not betn£ used or if ta ie* ruve not been paid for over rwo years B jt the ruling is generally applied wber , someorie rias antagonised the chief or where the chief will gain b o ir t c cranaacbon

The pr* u se ol paying the Jisef lor ! land m ean: that a small group is becoming richer at the expense of the Test of the corerr.urun Only , those with resourcrs like cash or stock can core pete for land

Chiefs also retain control tnrough the tnbal courts. Thev can ennch themseives through bribery. bur can also withhold favourable judge ments from their enemies As one villager savs 'You can commit the same offencc as the other person but not get the same puntshmen: That is not fairness, and people see such things’ .

Tho but mmiowttof - M a f i a .Each region is allocates sucn a

co u r whicc ts presided ciwc- Tv the; i chief wbc. ii head of the rrôn&J ; authority All proceedings *r- con 1

ducted -J‘ ‘accordance w»u rec-jognued trao&onai laws asd cu>- torm appbeaoie in that regior.

T h e v c o u r t s h a v e tn e k a n e n o w - '

e r s . a u t h o r . t i e s an c4 f u n c u ^ n a a v

m a g ] < i r a t e 9 c o u r u Bui *_ l r p e a J ,

f r o m a r e g j o c a i a u t h o n r > =3urt to ;

t h e m a p s c r a i e s c o u n t s n o : x a s i b i e

a n d n« k g ^ r e p r e s s * ’ _ i . ‘ r ts

allowedIn ’ 'M8 the legisiabve grosrid way

prepared for tne presen rrn rrr .j The Narsonaiist Partv zxj'e to ; power and Yerwoerd anc dueler. I restructured •naovc’ aaniûitr*-, booThe 195! Bantu Autnorês A n ;

was the first step in this p '^ c s s s Tb^ ‘ A.i.t %c: up a thfte-tier sys^r-. of: autnonties. The lowrat or* was the j m b* a Jinan ry »r>d the ® w -paid ' du<*; Tocn carer r rco 'u J l a itconbes. and finai); tr—.w r a i1 i i .t r -Titles like he T ranst- •L Jurrt the 1950* rov*. _cagr<.

were t'-cngniied r*d mr-^td inn : Oureaucr ju c structures DtaJdec' were weede- oui. stnnpec x rank and replaced by more co-oorranvc m tm bcii cf the same iin e ir : I

Matanzima's ru!e 1 without real support

The power of the chief* was strengthened by the e&tabtisftmen: of regional courts under the Regional Authority Court A n of 19SI

ocrweeii 195S and !95S. \ chiefs! were deôten tor a vanen jf orn-j a a l reasons. Popular opposcôo to the chiefship of Paramour- ck;fbaj Sigcau wriv was considerec _ u j*e !

! been wrong:t:*>y e ltv ttr^ x> tne! . oaramounrry in J9?9 at the eoense*

of the nghûl heir was one of the! , reasons that led to rural resxancei ! in P on do land m I960

In 1963 the Transkei Constxition: Bill was passed This provioec tor al legislative assembly of 6* a ic fs Only 45 members were ac be

i elected

For this reason Mantarcnna's . party retained control, in c u e o f., the Democratic Party wimmg 3S'

out of the 45 elected seats m ttc Drst|. election.

i a a

STATE OF THE NATION ' 36 BUSINESS PENETRATION:

Taking the good,leaving the bad

SCRAMBLING TO GET IN

Th o u s a n d s o f people webong force* off the land they

have tr a d it io n a l tanned to that business and state agriculture schemes can expiort it

In the village of Bethanie. Man- gwe and Beneba m Bophuthata- wana. the best tnbai land in the area, covering more than 3000hectares. was taken o ret by Agncor is 1979 (allegedly o r the initiative of the tubal authority) for a proposed wbea: and simftower projcct

Hundreds of residents in the villages weTr disposaesaed of then traditional right of access to relatively fertile land which ui tbe past had provided them with a relatively good n 'ûsicncr agriculture. Many families had had L2 or more hectares with a s ann-aj production of 200 Dag* ot meaites The land has now oeen divided

into 34 1 iX>-ha farms which, at a rental of R5 per h e c a r r . were allocated by tbe tnb*; authority to

Unorganised but determ ined, the people resist the business plansALTHOUGH PEOPL£ la rural areas are relative*? powcrieas. limited oppocuoa tc these schemes does take piaca. M ai? of the bigger plaatatioc schemes hare bees sob- jected ic strikes, w ti i eren b io n r of the no d enpo’eervbed rtôfti people hate refused to aefl tbdr labour to aueb scbones.Fmpitnth, aa la toe ease of cat- j

too, the crop* are deliberately daia- , afro, white at the Champagne di- nu proyed lo Lebawa, Urge scab theft ot the crop b

people whom mor. residents ria irr to be aupporten and associates of the chief. Several had o c previous farming experience Tbe chief himsetf has little or no

popular support He is weU guarded and ra ie ly talks w i l t the peopk Since the villagers were moved off the Lane there has och been minimal produajoo oc the 3 000 ha of prime land.Tbe penetration of rural agncu)

ture by business ■ accelerating Both the de Wa*J and the Swan Com m iasor for Yenoa and t l* C ukei respectively, were in favour of an increased involvement of pn vate capita! and ot the free en ie i prise system Thn is already Happening as companies like M urray and koberts lease Land in the bao- tustans for commercial prooocnou-

More and more tribal land a being taken over by the banrustan authorities for development projects Most o ! these are aligned with the local tnbai authority Tnbal autbonties vary considera

bly withui the same oanrustar and between different bantustans in the extent of their authority, effectiveness and popular support They range from weak ineffectual bodies to sinuieT organisation.' consisting of corrupt and despooc chiefs and theu associatesTbe establishment of develop

ment projects on tribal land occur

n early always witb the approval and coUaborauoe of the tnbal autbonties lo men: cases the establish men; ot a developroen’ J project involves the exrennvr cii>- j possession of people « land nghts

i The people most a/1 erred art those j who are known members ot oppos- I

itio r parties the poor m igrart ! workers and the smaU-*caie wbsi*- J aence producers 1

j .A gncu ltura l consultancy firms j are also '-aking over the running o f j projects once they hav- oeer

established by th ; s ia ir Theae * laker•vers gene ally lead to a j j I rr.a r i ed increase m the erp lo ! ratK*n j of labour Measured Farming lot

e xan p lc . ir taking o ^ : oenair I I , siaa projects, o f o v n n k r j ", i acnor iraduig to t/ie rch n .ig oi ] ,

workers at ap to a ac percent j . i decrease ir. wages in ce -.a in citrus j 1 f scheme^ under 3 iei iranagrm err.. i !

they have reduced wages i I t extended w a k in g hours a rc 'I increase J the work load

At the Champagne c rru s project in Lehowa, whe re M easurrd Fam - mg look over at the end of 198Z sprinkler irrigation replaced the flood system , the number of work ers was drastically reduced the length of the working week increased by 15 to 20 percent and workers bad to increase the number of trees deaned per day from 20 to between 100 and 200

Farming’s turning point

Many of these aeauau have aervoc to foster a c a » of B a ll scaU -jmvltefod -j rwcocers. This dass. subservient to the tribal authority. Is very aotaC. Worse still. H hat Men created by tbe physicalI I »»..<■»m tm siaact producers lor whoea the land provided aooar snail support

Agricultural land k being put under productsoa tor proRt, regardless of the eauaequences for the local population Ludeed, man? of tbeae schemes, like Mooifootein in Bopbothatswaua. arc very onproOlabk bat serve a pottticai and idcotopcal use Tbe banm star authorities coocod qnMe meanlag- les> statistics which aer-ve lo show the viabtliry aod growth o f the bao> tunan eeooomies Notwithstanding the soassivt- deb: of Africor. Bopbothatrânji d m m s lo be ooe of the few lood esportiag countries In Africa

1977 W AS the turning point for i com m craai agnculturc m the ban- 1 tustans.Before 1977 commeroa! agncu>-

ture was limited to a few plantation | schemes. Pianution schemes j which produced crops hke sisal, tea , and atru s were run by the agncuJ- j rural section of »he Depamner*! of I Co-operation and Development J A smah number of African farmers ' were producing on a commercial b m r but 2: most eases srterr^ ti to encourage African farmers were unsuccessful They were reluctant to use their b mi ted land tor a commercial market because of tbe importance of using it for food for themselvesThe Promotion of Economic

Development of Bantu Homelands Act was ammended m 197?. I W hites, coloureds and Asians could now become share-holders in 1 'bantu' companies which were pre- I viously controlled by Africans j Secondly, the Bantu Investment j Corporation fBIC), then changeo to Corporation for Economic : Developmen: (CED). could now buy and sell businesses from any racial group and sell them to any j

racial group The way was d ear for a Oo* of

capital into commerciaj agriculture m the bantustans

Before the 1960’s rural reserve agncuhurc subsidises the wages of workers is the urban areas Employers could pay lower wage? because the workers .‘ amibes were also involved in agriculture

However, unemplovmen! began to rise In 1970 unemployment * a s 11,8 percent. In lVtO n was about 25 percent. Business no longer needed 10 depend heaviiv on workers from rural areas and their needs were for a more skilteu labour force which would come from the urban areasThe agncuhure of the rural

people was now irrelevant to business and this permitted the en tn of business tmo big agncultural schemes ;n African rural area?The mooe> used for these agricul

tural development schemes came from both the state and private business Pnvate capital was frequently intertwined with the state through forms of agenc> and tnpam te agreements

C , ISKETS UlltlCATlON a r ty » « fcacrvl#

c s r ’ i^ n iftrf tnM ft] in t ie vonls of slw* .

sh«y <jtpr*-po''t*« tc thst rrear*' 1 bv uie b to itt iM tit* ' fM uiie in tne dt vlir-c » n n ’ The« fsutUlm tu n ik«t lirrr. i*om IB m e n u s U. l bes.' acbetne-.AI K^&kjtmaAoek tmxiuon

acheox.. local pevp»e frorr Uie Heart" reseitlemeni ramp Elukbhr yiseni ipiocr of bgh' 1 killed two prtrr co**s. ‘These hungers art hongry ' said the wnite manager of tbe scheme. ‘We poured diesel oc the carcasses and buried them two meters deep — bet still Lbey weredug up during ttie night. ’ be added. At Shiioh, another Cake,

development scheme, the problem Is aotvec with a high aerurity fence erected aga/ns? tar people from tbe metueroenl-cumpK of Sada, Ortoc and Zwetidmgs.Shiioh'» Tegetables are mm even

araiiabie La local people at4e to pay for them — they »rr soid id far o#T towns through the Devdopoaen: Board

There are tensions betw een the acnemeand the surmanaing people at a third Cukei development p -oject at Tyefu.In this area, people restated

dispossession by tbe •Bettermen* Scnemes ’ In tbe l*60's, and created a no-go srea for goeernmen; ofTioais mikt then Many also resisted the re-allocaooa of local Land for the T vefu scheme through the tribal authority. Tbe scheme

I C » s k e l , l a n d o f

! r s j> r p s s > - o r i a n d

j r e s e t t l e m e n t , h ? s 1 2 6 p e o p ’ e l i v i n g ir> e a c h

. 3 q u a r e k i l o m e t e ' o t f t s b a n e r , t e r r i l o r y .

Most of its resicents ar j without land, and half

are without work. One of every three children

| is malnourishec.1 Ciskei government has ; pumped millions of 1 rand into five small ! irrigation schemes, i Yet only two percent of i the bantustan is suited

for irrigation.; Why has this particular : development strategy

been adopted.

went ahead. however. But a o n who ended up as pan -tun? w t m oc the scheme went ou sin*.? ta 1979. More recently, tensaocs baê arisen with the ernpioy men: «f aeavuisl labour from Ihe wwtt* Gletimore resettlement c an s Glenmore peop*e were led a

believe they would be settiec at

LENNOX SEBE. life president of the Ciskei bantu star,, is keen on the

political capuai he can make out of his irrigation schemes

‘Hungry people will always be a security problem.* he says Give us 25 cents a day for a rural developm ent.’ he appeals to white South Africa — you will never get a pie- m um as cheap.' His policy is to cteate a ‘large cadre of middle-

Hearts andiiSebe uses money foJ class farm en .’

Warning of ‘ the monste* ca the| border and the 'ever wncnru>j communist hordes'. Sebe vxues• tha* ‘the key to the entire vîaole! situation lies in the rapid pro*ro-; tion of homeland agnculturr

THE?FAC17 TH£RE » m y pvrpooe tfcal Ciskei i i m p

tll> fsdflli ta kr

ta*TT bran baLnri m * mrnfrrr, CXtoer p r u

t node? of ‘a tarlliuui K t e w . «Ovi a “pfc*»n

‘Remarkable’, this window dressingtau(jn«cm ', *taaf1b«e frW a c t n/wt»: caa malPt~r*4\ IM 1 pr^j«ct3 tb * i cn»id oo* da* •rrU./r'^d m e**tf.*Adxn£ r a » - 4 </ i/r* O l-C * i « » M ta « * Z Y lrm rre * o o e < J c o w rt» * 1

Awix.gr tb j-rwipu lakec tr »tBi :W » ' piece* art rry» * r p 'j ' i r n fr-mi UrarvL 'w trf SuiIm L»dto R»ci. C « « 2nbvk f n and AfiadsL Ti.< > u ie r Lonbow 'i «u.t$ £< aenranTts. •» ***-L m dlgMHonaa f n r S e e 2 . A frino banutfaLa* Iu r t b<«r«.

be 1

Tyef* i i toid of tbdr

f i r m tn tbe LmMrru Cape te 1979. Today, tbeir ooly Lott 10 tbe project ■ km m uI work at 40 cm u a day.

‘ We f d t i i x rate* oc tbe Tyefu farm .’ says Mr G Zakbe, a

Ac w i ^ U> oat Gleamorr rcstdsol. 'oflWub d o u r oaiiy a w « bo work. Tbr> fo » tbeir fnewd* and reiae vrs.'

Ttaxs reality anderbea aa early f tbe r t t M ttl r cf tbe department of

that ‘GWofflort m b teaded la dovetail with T r e h '

What nuke* Gkan o rt pea pie even more angry about toe T acbe b>? now m tAal they facr removal and r a g t k t a t (or a arcooc time • to makr way for tbe expaoaoc erf tbe acbecae. SfMcalaboo u tbat Gteoa»orr la

alao brt&f ra a an d for poitocai reaancs. la I f l B npdier C J Lloyd fa re a apeecfe oc tbe ‘importance ©J ruraJ d r rd o fw a l in tbe defence a n trx ' ef Sewtb Africa.’*W berrrtr we b » t a tocaI

are**, w* wfil ha*r U» accurr tbr.r loyalty, food will and cr> ©p*rat>a® agaisc tbe kaanrxraU. ’ be said

‘W brrr thtt b »o< fe*stb*e, we viQ b tw to xaorr tbrtr oat of tbe crtocal areas and reaeCde them tiarwbrre.’

Gwrrmnamt offkiab tept tbat tbr adwia m wfil «oM ira(r ccooorair growth to tbe rrpou.. Evtoeoce. however, Indicates that tbeae tinr pocket* af fcnjt prococtlrtty have amotberrd tacal

diTfltmtonrd with tbeir own ttcbaoioftcaUy inferior farming

Siaee 1979 tbe acbemea have had a mom opoiy of tbe milk and im w markets Tbeae products nu> ooi r be acid to aeakd fo m — aH ooalamert aad most be pannirtzed. A ja m u lt , ama'i acale dairy ta rm n have lost acres* lo ■markets.

Minds with Soil’n Seedschemes to create a middle class

But Scbe k no? the only person to argue ail thu . Tbe director of a firm | hired to manage the scheme claims i that ‘the flashpoint for instability in i South Africa may be tn the towns, j but the slow wack is in the rural areas.’

For him. rural development projects cannot be evaluated in economic terms onl» "There is limited time to w ir the supoort of rural communities to be a bulwark against communism and for border defences

| Indeed, this is how a Q skei prop- ! aganda booklet on the Tyefu

scheme evaluates — inaccurately — the success of the project T he most important benefit has been the ‘winning over’ of the local community which now collaborate? with the authorities.' reads the booklet. The scheme is 'being nurtured with the sincere co- operation of the populace, the story goes on

Caught in the i middle * the privileged few on the farms

j WHO BECOMES ■ rr^ T o ero ftr .* •J ite group o* s e t te r s o r t»>a &*■ k e '‘$ irrigation acberr>es'

Applicant* are scree~ ec &n C.s- ke i't in te lligence sen/>ce s rd m ust have taken ouf cu zan sh of th is 'in d ep en d en t ben iustar..

B es.oes th is, settier* a'-e a*»c- — accord ing to one new sc-ape ' — 'hanciDicked and rew aro ec fo<- lovelty to the local chK>f.

BONA m agazine d s im s that a achem e like Tyefu has ir ic 'e e sec the powe^ of the ioce! cn ef arvs his headm en w tic w ith m e se ttle rs and goverr.n>»nt off>- c ia ls . 'take all dec isions regard ing m e running of tr>e scf>eme

The settlers , how ever, d en y that they la kb part ir dacrsicr.- maa ing. T hey are officially tre a tec as em p lo yees for their f irp yea r yet e v e r after that they com plain ttist desp ite being ieasan o io erv they are treated as laoourent

*Ws aim to develop m idd le c iess farm ers here.' s a y s C iske i's sec re tary for agricu ltu re. But a su rvey of Keiskam ahoek sen s 's show s that they see the schem e as 'just a job . and regard m em se lves as a group w ith in terests opposed to the m an ag e rs Tr»e sen le -s are a group caught in tr>e m iddle — priv ileged in relation to local peop le off the scn em es. Duf dom inated in relation tc govern m ent officials and m an agem en t

Make way! Here come the mining companiesMi n i n g o p e r a t i o n s , not

coosouuatior. a * f ptaced Reserve t , jus: north oc d»e Tugela river under threat of removal According to resîntL ofSaals

came into tbe area :» and tried to persuade the d u e ' to *r*e his cor>- *rnt tc the mining opcracon and tne removalTbe community arw? the ?hicf

re jca ed tius offer, tnc a e aum r.j i bouses are reluctant tc jr »e up tbeir chances of big profits Tae ofnaa-s , apparently vuited tbe area agii" last yearTbe mining operanoc would i jr ee 1

baL' the peopte out of t?c reserve. I where tne> have beex avui^ since 1 before white pcnetrat>jc of Zulu- 1 land

However, aithouga pr^pk have beer livm£ in the area zoi genera- nor»s. the land belongs t : SADT. an am i o f th- Departmen. c ( Co-oper- itioD anc Developcent This means that SADT (or F ret.jra ) wv!i, deade whetner the r e t ro a i wiii go ahead.

Co-operation and Dr*e;opmem : minister at the time Pier Koomhof. i said hu decision woulc depend on reonmmendauons b n the K »aZuiu government, tse Depan- i meci of Co-operaoon a s : D r»flop -; m en anc tne mining .xcroratior

Tor.v Joh.’u , aecrru - to tne KwiZ>iu ch ir ' minister s depan-J men; rrve*iec Uui the applicauon j was -orrs>de'ed Py 'he r jg is:r* :c at j **»go*e u.e M aaunre* I n ^ l * uth .nt'. tne Dcoi.-r~.ei: of' A giw ..:iurr anJ f o r r s ^ an.*? ; , e , D rp i't r r ir : . '. / vvcrk*The V ork; Departs.* * h o .ic A ; ions t r the < rplcii- - •

the D i-rarrater of Agn. : t c . c 1 rnrcstr/ opposed the arr .-_ar j r — iic*t u .' the |trur.us :* i t ie jp i; I

he T>«rvcv* but rz V ' ?r<i' • would ml erf v re w<th cr^v— -afoi | ir Lhr ate*Tms i^'position uoes d~ mean ihr

exit of the mimn& venosr?. n o * - ! eve*Tiând v airead* sprung in i

Reserve 4 oorth of Rxr^ .ds B v

STATE Qg THE HATXIN 37

The So lou le and Kscnambt j people nave oeen settlec - Reserve 4 arnce iong before Z^*- xrd **s anne-ied b . N au i ta 1& “ — ve’ the> do no: benefit at all froe: u r m ining1 operanor f

Ic 1976 tlie SADT s^red a contract with T isand(Pty) Lac inwnich the mining company unorrtook to! pay a royalty — ca lo i^ 'ec at ten percent ot its annual prcfir or R 15j pet ton of minetai osncentrate1 (whichever wa^ higher — to the> SADTIn 1V77. the Nata' Mercury;

reported that the mine «c«ild pro-1 duce 787 000 tons of prtxrsaed m:n i erai's an ru a liy . valued a: R 100 rmii j ionin 1V*2. c question war c ited : r j

pariiamenr about the m aney rron: 1 thu. mining operabor. but th e1 minister avoided the q=esncr b y ' only rcplving as far as prrspecung | fees were concerned.

He answered that Rtexi 75 was paid in I9&2 to KwaZu*. by Z u ia - ! land Titanium in pro%pecang fees, j He did not bother to met. on. ho» j ever that royalties of no- '.ess than : R 2 0 0 OOO were pa*? to tne SA D I i t terms of the cor -act ;

This money, profi; froc the land j which has traditionally aeac-nged tc > the people of Reserve < ts being t paid to the SADT and ma^t well he used to move them trs*n therr ! arvcestra; home.

*

STATE OF THE NATION 38 BUSINESS PENETRATION: SCRAMBLING TO GET IN

Th e s t r u g g l e torsurvrraj in tbe bantustans u difficult It demand* • debate balance 01 tbe way tbe

land ts used In the last few vean. large farming

companies — whose motive » profi; ratber tbaa ■urvrval — have stepped onto tbe acme. upsetsng the balance Sometime* with duarrr ju» resulu Take the Transaei Agricultural

Corpora d o t (Tracor) icheme in Khnba m tbe HerabeJ datnd of Transfect

Tbe scheme started in 1981 with Xracor moving iro n it* Khubs base to piough tands m surrounding MhMges Since then it has expanded. incorporating a Dumber of villages

Set up by the Transka government. Tracor has two main aims.• I n tbe kmg tens to make Tranxkd self-suf&caem m food production, anc•T c engage in profitable fanning w htd ' balances ’J k production oi food with 'rural community ckrvciopment Tracor is he»vi#» dependent on

government rubsam rt Its coats are consider* ote because it mvoWes machine mtensrve farming Despite this high technology approach.T racoi cntiQscs outer development pro)ccts for failing to mvoNe local people in planmng and carrying out rural developmexr-

■MktwLw — let us develop o unelv« — is the name Tracor has pven to its maize production projects It calia tbesn ‘cooperative scaases' based on tbe voluntary assoGuaoc of peopie within a headman’s area. Thais the theory.Bu: tbe practice b somewhat

diflerrnt- STATEOFTHE NATION *oke

to people in two viaages irrvoh>ed m tbe ploughing wftrme.Tracor introduced itself to tbe

nJagers s ’, mecangs called by tbe headmen. The meetmgs wen poorty attended. and in one village Tracor procuaec to call another gathenng so more people could bear about tbe scheme It never happened Tbe unattended meeungs proved 10 be the tune Tracor "consulted with the vthagcrs wbo*e lands they were aiming to ‘develop'Working from a general

agreement in tbe first meetings that it could use any amds m tbe villages rt felt su:tabic tor intensive production, Tracor went ahead Although rt used tbe villagers' land, tne peopk nearer had a dear idea of what was involved Or. for that matter, w h at Tracorwas and bow itfitted m.

One villager sasd *No, we know nothing about Tracor except jus: hearing that it cocnes from Prttoru and started in Umtaxa (tbe Transkei capuaH ’

While the connection with Pretoria is not gear, the manager* of the scheme come from tbe Coroo ratio? for Economic Development

7-Tracor be*ac impark. lvmW people it would improve production on tber land. Tractors,

better seed, feru iixen . pesticides and weed killers were brought in. No involvement was expected

from landholders, and no training was offered The villagers commented. We have learn' nothing new about tanning since Tracor came to tbe v illages.'

Tbe landholders were told tbe production costs would be paid from tbe sale of the harvest, and they would get a share of the remainder of the crop. Bebevmg that Tracor would vastly improve production the landholders

* large share of profits.It was this expectation which

spurred people to allow the scheme to go ahead, despite tbe lack of consultation

With tbe stan of tbe scheme. vm belief disappeared. Landholders were not allowed to enter their own ficids 10 p*zk green m ealies, an essenoaJ food Guards were em ployed to keep people of! tbe field*, and anyone the> caught was pumshed m tbe tnbaj coun. If cattle strayed mto the fields. tbe owners were fined

Worse VaSto come There was a fundamental conflict between Tracor and the villagers over what was grown Interested only in profit. Tracor would only grow maize r with machines and chemicals Char would t ill everything esccpt maize Tbe villagers bowrver. were

concerned about su m *m! Not nace the 1 9 0 0 's ha.* tbe land beer

adequate to produce enough for the village as well as for export to towns and mines T odav. like in most bantustans. tbe Hers he 1 area produces below survival needs Tbe villagers produce a winter

wheat crop and a summer maize crop In tbe last few years the winter crop has been better becaase of the summer drought, and good wm ter rain T raco-'i pian. however, leaves no room fo ' wheat growing

N ather a Tracor interested ts sorghum , an altem adve summer n u m crop whjcfc fetches the locab good pnees To top it oT Tracor absolute^

forbid* mte)w.opfxng — where tbe fields are also planted with vegetables. Pum ptins beam , squash, peas, potatoes and wild spinach are usuaiiy planted among the m su e and wheat to supplement

State capital sets up farms to make the bantustans look developed. And to make profit,as much .as possible. For this the people suffer more

the local diet Without these vegetables the villagers canno: combat the malnutnoon which accompanies a maize-only dietTracor does not allow peoole mto

the fields, and uses weed killers which make it impossible to gru* vegetables Even if Tracor stopped working the land today. tt would be three yean before vegetables could be grown againIt is no surprise, therefore. (ha m

00c village people are actual!) considering bolding the harves: hostage to force T racor to mec them and discuss problems

Without a doubt, tc a good year. Tracor could get a tagge* and bener m agr crop than tbe villagers couic But the v iliagen will or\ et kno* just bow much bigger Traocr has neve* u>4c their whs: the yield n This means the landholders cannot dispute tbe uze of their share of use crop

Furthermore, local people are not convinced Tracor a gettirg the most from its resources On their own, tney get a maize an<2 a wheat crop Tracor only gets maxze Tracer nas a single approach tc farming for ali areas Tbe viliagen have adapted fanning to meet t i* conditions m tbe area, and Tracor has not Icarrt anything from then If Traoor had aim ed, from th«* beginning. to have no loca BTvorvtmrn; at all. 4 could oot have dooe better.

| L ot. iacontent reached x*c~j j breax^-vg ^xxnt when they weie

presented with huge biBs * cover the production costs for w bast two seasons The average b it r the one village ts about R 3 0 0 ner Hectare and in the other R«2 per 'seciare Land hoi den do not anoervand the huge difterence in c o t

As far as the locals were concerned the costs were acjposed to come out of the harvet. But rt ■ppear that Tracor d«J not cover costs because of poor hanesu . and a now pustung the costs c*»c the viliagen And these cosa are tar beyond wnal people cat aSord u> pay. Man;, have refuaec n pay

Tracot t response is th*' ^ e v costs will be dodncted tre e the landholders' share of futsrt profits Tbe snare of tne crop peep* have

received ranges from two to five 70kg bags of meabe mea^ If people bad worked tbe 1aaC tbemv*rves they could naê produced 25-35 bags No-oreanew* how man v bags Tracor kept Tracor argues that it produces

healthier icrain. After maeag rt •ells at R22 peT 70 kg bat - »ô«t half the pnee charged in »ocai uores Because it is uztre£ned the meal is healthier than the refined meal told commeraalK it could be claimed that Tracor ts beaefitttrg landless people at the expense of the landowDcn But la ii^ w n en nave always sold their **rp*us on the local market umnihec a( about R i : a ba#

Mos; people now wan* T-acor to leave But the ongmal agreement read ed with T racor was apparmt*v ;or a five-year period. Traco- has w id if people »am tc u ke ibeir iar.d ou; of tbe icacmc they mas* hn t pay b a d * : « they j

I ‘owe This ti irapossiois k r most || One invoKx was for R9t£ which a j j not much higher than m ar' iL e r •1 Ir. Kfciiha te a ' much rvtonr is not ,; seer in a h.U year

in one village even Uk «ad m an I 1 — wno was in rru ro ccu .» j allowing 1 racor in — ti ; compiaming The wnoie »r.Lage j puns to hold the 19*u harvest I hostaae to force Tracor 10 come I

and otsaxss the situauo.. Thev say ; openly that if this doc? 00c work , the; will try something eac

In toe oirteT village, however. :J people axe afraid to talk ooenlv ano >! seem resigned to the sinsaix'c

Opposioon is iimiied to * reiusaJ to | pay Tracor.

The difference berwees the two villages can partially be explained by the attitude of the hrartman In the second village the bracmar strongly supports Tracor anc regulariv fines people wncse cattle stray* into the fields He fines RIO for large stock and R5 fcr c n a l stock He has had chilorrr whipped for taking grrenm eaiiev V jw he has told parents they wt£ be fined RIO per cob found in tbear child's possession

The picture hardly maicses up to Tracor's rhetonc about food production and rural community development Instead n aa* descended Uke a parasneto take

I control of-people's lanes m the name o f ‘development lc the end j

! ihe people are poorer, bcngrre rand j j angne:

THE HEAVY BURDEN OF BANTUSTAN BUSINESS

Sugar profit car i p HE CREATION of tbe bantustans has created some dif- I faculties for business. Areas of potennal sug2' cane growing land faL *nto KwaZulu The South A fncar sugar iriDs need this land and the sugar industry has begun to intervene Already more than R20 million has beer, lent to black farmers to prooote the production of sugar cane o r KwaZulu so l l r tb s way tbe sugar industry hopes to prom oie a of successful fanners.

Two factors present the development of this farming middlr cuss the lac*, of financing and distribution of land Peasant faim en are normally unable to borrow money for agricultural development on their lands because they do not own them In this traditional system of land tenure, tbe chief has tbe authonty to a&ocate land.

in’t sweeten Kv\.All of Natal’s sugar mills recer e some cane from Zulu far

mers and roost of tnem offer aic The mills also administer aid in tbe form of cash loan* from the sugar industry. M orey is provided for land development, fertilizer, seedcane wee*? control and equipment A l u r n s a o v e K the mills provide !jrm mg services

in many cases the fanner p.*>* n o rote a t al! in t h e production of sugar cane — the mill* provide the money and » th e

operations and manatfemert necesârv fo: flowing a n d

harvesting the crop. The mil! tik es over t h e financing a n d tne farming functions while the ;armer merely becomes t h e lessor of the cane land

Oocc the Afncan farmer has taken a loan . the mill reprcien tatrves take over control Any farming such as weeding o ' fertilizing which is regarded as inadequate b v the mill is taken

/aZulu povertycharge of by the mfl: r e p r e s e n u D v e . The c o s t of a is service j is then added onto tbe amour,1, ot th e ongmai io«e Sugar cane has become a l u c r a t i v e produce for KwaZu'u (

D o p te cirougnt *1 tne 1982/8: season 1J muuce t o n s w e r e ■ harvested

Familie however cannot turn their fuli attenono to sugar cane fcrmmg 1- K âl t h e . e 19 000 recs'ered b ta c k

grow e n syrreaj on 41 00f' hecia of rensterec oaot2 unc Lach far.net ther ha^ ou.v a r average of U b&zarev The area which wouid aikw a reasonable L iv in g is oouê tnis siz c *

Because the man ». often a m gran., womer a*e generally j responsible for tne c r o p If the Ion-' on the lane n registered 1 in the m a n s name he receives he proceeds of ti*r sale of the j c r o £ . even tnough the i»om «*n has done the wort

STOCKENSTROM: BEHIND THE CAMOUFLAGE OF REFORMI STATE OF THE NATDK

AMOHG THE many

of tbe cod- aobcaanf of the C u te i u the !X »v ea i oid coioured

fanning co^crsumrv o f Stoc- kenttrors d istrc t. lo ca ted halfway between F o r Karc University and the reaettieaeo? camps a Whittieaea Now that the .bKnct a oemg mcor

pon ied into tbe C a * c . its 6 000 ; peopfc are betag sought out of tbeu 1 properties, io t k of wtucr belonged U> families i t tae c m tor five g en e t - ,

i ' S r s S S ^ r ^ r . ' ^ . I MBUie Hendrk*seJ a t forced reaxy-*: with a d i t in - w a g C O U n t ln C ) t h eI ence. the people are willing to -3----------------------------------------r

leave, but there ■ now here for tnexr V O t S S t h f l t p u t___ _ ______ ' him In parliamentI DC people O! oUXUStTOR] | ------- I— t-------— — —------- ——

deaded (o i c b 1979 when the gov- ; <10 0 r f l i S C O h i g ennnent f in a ls determined which areas would be aiergnd into Caake:Community tam m g t were held, and oe November 10 one of then repre»cntanvea. kugh school principal Mi D N B au r* . aexua memorandum to the Manmer of Internal Affairs, J C B eam s. Tbe cruaaJ passage read as ftobows _’We u k for a territorial area

salary, thecommunity of Stockenstromwere fightingremoval from land

j they've owned form e r w ) for ceaceroai r a d c r [be [ 8 C e n t u r yautnorrty and as c o z ens of the RS A ~here in the waxenhed of the Kat R/ver. If tha appacaboo canaot be permitted where our communities especially d em re j l we reqoest the autnodbes to o d u ic io r us other lands m a rurai area m exchange for the lands of oar coloured com- mtnrtjes w ind: arc b o w bexig moor- porated into the CafceT.Tbe Internal Affairs Minister

repbed in Febra a r * 1982. s u x j the frtinnmwftv be^p count the population of the area sod identifying the landowners He added: “as far as your request for mz, ahernstn*e area is coocemed, I gladly pve you the amrranoe that tta» matter will be thoroughly gone nao . and that an on-the-spot mvcaa g a aoc w ill be cooducted as *ocm as possible You will, however. ia*ae-rstand that such a s mveshgatiac s rn r necessarily take a coQAderasK mne

Of&dAJ* of tn« L-epartm eai. soov carrytng copies o< tbe memorandum sooc descendec oc Stockeastrom, counting people r d properties.But oo Apni 12 1983, the East

L o a io c Daily D apatch reported that the o r* M raa irr of internal Affairs, F W de IQerk, nad said m parliament that w request for an alternative area had been rece ived .Under pressure from E K Moor- croft, member fcx Albany, be admitted that he aad 'unknowingly' mused parham es. He then wrote to li* peopie of Ssockenstro® saying m effect, tba* he was not fuDv

■BEZHCZHij y j O R E CRACKS are openmg in the |

•«o toft n

trauma of rem ove Tbe exceeding!' low vakianoas ast oc the

i properties were. a causeI for tears rather Ihae s read

The 35 properties Peircging to the I community’s NG Sendxrgkerk | totalling over 1 00C marges were i 1 valued aotiecavely a-* F ? JOC. This j | vaiuao-^r was cru o a hoansr :t was < rhe community i d rear to use the j ! church's monev to h r ' in aitema- j

uve are> anJ th-a am »x r for the poor anu undie9i - a e e id u n g c :failed to n u t- io lis f

Without reasons'** jkk toe chu ch’s prx»per

mforraed aoout wbai was happea mg tc h a ocparnacsL Meanwtuie. tbe people of 9toc-

kezotrotc had sea ; s d c ie g a te e to Q skei preaoent Lennox Sebe. requesting to rem ain oo tbecr lands witfc oertaic guarantees for tneff community. Sebe faded to kerp the appotntmen: A semor Ctskr- ofe caal told the Oelegatx>o that C akei was not m trresred in them anc expected South Africa to get n c of them before their lane was haaOed over

Stockccatrom delegsttoos investi gated possible s iirraan ve areas m

the George and Hianansdorp dxs- tncts, but were told cha ahhougb tbeae ongh: be available, they wouid fire have so apply for-pes-

ynir\ ~ ' —, In December 1983. a aewroapcT reporter tried xo esu b h sr wtxat tfcf s u tr ot affairs was Tbe department of Commumry D evrkxunen: man>- tained it was respon&Me only for the valuaaoo of tbe properties. Tbe departram . of Gooperacwc and DeTcioproeot (CAD ) asud it a « no? dea ! wiu. oofouree- lntrrc*al

trenr i Stnc-;

kecs^m . h u very Irê » -»c€ of sux - i '"tvsi %* a c.-’ownucrr U-vn of tre J

sized pnva.; p x p 'ro c - ! nsvc <*. v iluec a: beiweer. k.12; 000 ar.J V ,* (X* • ukn_^»e cf ouiid- j in^\ bi-^ho*es and iff-rr .•^rtr.cnti 1 The gu»n.. p n e e lo t i : j*y huiid-1 tug plot H hiejoach ne*;King Towt c • _ .Hi JTb? r*eopk of Suxaeasrrvtr a re 1

mu' being forced to ^ caeir. pastoral !i>- anoods anc enare way of life tc drill mto tne ic-wni Tbe> J

i will recervt ooi) a p icaac ; to cash it. exccanê just aoc- • enough a» one locai remarked. 1c nae aroc;*d1 and see the wond o u a e i r and;

: vpeoc on the way 'Tbe people of So acm tro m I

would tatheT not la s t ar» aione> s* : all. Tbeu recues: a fcc » ota-e m , exchange where they wiH regain <

■ indtviauaiiy and coliec^>es> every ! thing they stand tc lo*e Some are determine*: » refuse any

vatuanon whatsoever osc^ tbe go>-; emmet; gives them a r* >ancs. out j there arc oo groura; tor such refusal in South A incar jw Rese:-

! tied persons classified k A tnuji ;who own properties at over 2C

j -morgen, can demanc iaac ecual in |: value to the land Lhey kx. &ui there )

o no such provtsK>r tar ooloured i iandownerx >

kenstvoni people berwesr various i govermnent depg im ■ » i a cnat. ( while the> are sull W x « tJ to Inter -'

] naJ Affairs tc give tnerr arw ianc. j Jtfive days later pboord i>acr and ■ CAD has sneaked up i n behind!I idensed its urvoN eaent in tbe cot»- , fand tur them w.tc exnrocnaoor,m onn i reaertiem eat. oespite the

. w vesLjaacm pm tnacd by muuster I Heunis! Meanwtule. CAD had no; been ! *d)t Oo April 30 19M Ihc Soutt J African Development Trust ten : ; the Stockettsmxn property owners \ cash offers for tftrrr iands j The Exprop. j*ôc Act provides ^ncoetary compensaocn for tbe

•noocev' In this ws« a com munn M 6.000 [■peopie u being forc'^ry removed I They have coope rated isJv with the

govrmment. assatc- m o& aaL and valuator* anc received prom j ise^ anc auurances tnxr a: le a s t ! three different cabtne* xumstc n But thr Department of Cooperi | Uon and Deveioper.cn’.. Gammun.iv ;

Affairs asreed that tt»e ptwpie of der Vr air promised the people of Stockenstrom did have s cast S it I ‘Stockrm m m i ‘trancheid for the

'teas and inconvenience of 1 Development and Intersal Affairs j rem oval. and Deputy M inister van have all sa*d they are ncr response j

b*e. The rem ove a iaopeiung i oonethekss

goverameaf s homeland scheme, this \ tune at Glenmorc. a township about fifty : kilometres frotr Grahamstown

Ld 1979 pcopur trxxn five widely separated j Eastern (tape coaununiDes. Kenton. Klip- j fonteic. C octx . Cokbester and 1 Grahamstown were dumped together in ; Glenmore M irasie? of Co- operation and i Development. Pset Koornhof. promised the i township wouid become ‘the finest in South , Africa ' R26 Boston was t c be spen- on | developing it.

Glenmore forms p an of tbe Ciskei, but it ts i stili qontrotied and admumiered by the East- ,

►rfrtvCipc. Adnunsisxabon, board (Ecabl. 1 Residents are do: sure whether they fall j

under Lennox Sese s government or not The , authorities have k x told them Glenmore has been Ciskei an saace 1981, nor have they explained South A in ca ’i coounued involvement in their affair*

Now it appears mat G lenm cre’s 1 000 residents are due tc be moved again , this time to Peddie m the C ake .At first the Caskeian government was

unhappy with me proposed move Glenmore s land was tc be used for the Ciskei's Tyefu irrigation sezieme But. if the Glenmore residents were included in the deal, the Ciskei's cnsjs-rKVJen economy would suffer further damage

lo-fighting between the Ciskeian and South African authorises caused a three-year delay.

Glenmore to be moved yet againThe Glenmore community isfacing removal tor the_____second time. Where they 3re now is bad. But Pedd;e is far worse ..._________________

F inally. the Ciskei agreed to accept the move if South Africa financed it and provided the Peddie site wnth minimum services The Sw an Commission investigating

economic development a i the C iskei. recommended that the South African government contribute R20 000 per family moved

But even if Pretoria agrees, the community won’t see much of the money. Ecab has provided very tittle infrastructure at Peddie and the removal has been called ‘a monumental blunder from beginning to end’, even in parliament

Glenmore a isolated. There are row? upon rows of identical bouses with woooen walls, asbestos roofs and mud floors. An old convened farm house serves as an administration

Crfanmor* — th« 'fln*st‘ aayt Kaomhofblock. and there is a smali dime nearpy.

Residents struggle to find work. Many commute to nearby a t ie : like Port Elizabeth, until Ecab officials force them to return to Glenmore. Others work ar the TveKi irrigation farm for about forty cents a day

There are no indications that conditions will be any better Although residents call Glenmore a ‘death trap’ , many have objected strongly to going to Peddie:

As one resident says. 'In the Q skei. the officials choose only a few to work The jobs go to their fnends or their relatives '

But there ts strong pressure on residents to move. The area was hard-hit by the drought

and the commurj’y had to rrt> c r mnnvaJ; rations Bet ponpK say officia. nr. selling! rations to white fa'm ers at pve-aa v- pnees j The; aiso all i t tha. c jtry resvder-j. rauonsbad Seer halved

Mrs Nf-mgh* Mr>u.4 . an eider*' p^rsioner, says Ecao official; a**aui’ cd her wacn she con e : o? a J'V 'rtage in he* raioas PcviCK ha\r aU.. conplainec c a t ratir>ns

art often no. delivered to G iewaore. fo rarg thera to im n g e 'heir own transt»T*. to ietch ther-.

Pension.’ a ie aiso regularty tantrcred with. Community leader Gunduiu Zakn. savs that the amcHint of his pension vanes irxn month to month Others *a\ clerks are gv^r- of corruption.

Pensions are also used to coerce oeopie into taxing out Qskei *atuenship‘ They are told that if they reg-Jter. their pensr?es will iT'crease from R60 to R80 Aaxirong to the Grahamstown Rura! Comminee (GRC). this tactic is not working.Tbe Glenmore community , tc fr mer with

the GRC. which monitors forced removals in the Eastern Cape, a set to fight tar move to i Peddie The issue has been wideh reported m ! the commercial press and meetings save been | arranged in the community The Ciskei's response has beer oeariy rep

ressive In Ju ly last year, Ciskraa- security police arrested two Glenmc-? ueaaerv Mbengashe and Zakhe. They were aken to an office, interrogated and assaunec Their houses were searched

STATE O f THE NATION 40 THE DROUGHT

Th e d r o u g h t at1983 iu a j^ to shock w tK m orfau&anons into tkmaurj* some food and money to the

mtpoverahed rural c m Bui peopie from n*m areas i p «

that the drought ooK M i a thmgs worse The bad coackoorn tn the rurii Areas e u i e»et b tunc* of food rum

A womtn how the Tm*akei a n 'Even 10 yean ago there was • lot of rmiD and people were «nabtt «d bve properly We havt »c tend. We have oc helds Where ear. wt plough?

•We arc pw*ed tofeshei What a r t wt going to do"* 'l w j measure the farms of the whites ta ry are b«g You see there from the shop lo the next village it'» cmkj one person. But we art packed lo feth e ' here and there is nothing we can-do.‘The drought id the reral areas

I aggravated the p o ^ rty of the i people In the T ransac

# 66 percent of the ms* l population is illiterate.# Two durds of f i n households

incomes be»cw the est>- mated household so h a«an cr level of R l 50* m 1 « 2

Tnbrrcu*o« » pertiaps the greatest killer wrth. times at many sufferen as KwaZalii# Two thirds oi the w u c labour force ic permanently abaeni. working ■** migrant ia b o v c n in the m ajor urbat areas of Atnca.# The mortality rate m eiuldren up to five years was 262 p er 1000 tn the Tabankuiu d»tjxn a a c a»sraged 190 per 1000Most famibe* survive oe ^peowcms

aad migrant renuttancea but supplement th e r incomes oa a t httle that they can-growThe drought has ^creased ten

sions between peopie. t> v » x » * in the comm anrties nave bees mount - mg The fewer the Tcaource* the greavrr the co cS ha T iir eocfua over *r*zmg aad

water nfchts ha* been mrrnaf Desp- e rs tr to keep theu arxm au. people trespassed oo other In * * lr- the T ra o u b s o w anen**ed to drrve tbeir cattle ui coaata. areas, only lo fmrr confacsoor., aaaaiih,and the mtrodncoac of new laws to prosecute the ownen of cattle found cm 'agncahurai aeaemes

As the veld a oo longer abte tosus- tain cattle, peopie tare to smaller livestock sud> a i B W and goats which are s*ore di ought n a a n t . But theu different grazing patten* -destroy the veld even more.

20 to 30 percent of famines in the Trarakei do not have acceaa to iand. The onh agriculture teev can do a in tbexr smaL 50m x 50ci homestead gardens

The drought affected cheac people heavily. Between 19>l' and 1982 mc&bc output decreased by AS percent. sorghum by 11 percent, pumpkins by 68 percent potatoes by M percent and cafctoages by 76 percent Between April 1982 aad November ,1983. 555-<fi 1 ca ttla died tn the Transkei, 36.2 percent of the Tranakeian herd

In Bopftuthatswana Iks story a the same A man deserve* how things

THE BOT

BARRELThe drought tias been blamed for dead cattle and crop failure. ‘But even in good years we can

not survive. It isgetting worse all

the time We do not fcnow what will

happen to us. We -do not know is there is

any hopeforour children, say the

people forced to live on over

crowded land.

the Dttaoboda * p n a ofBophuthatswanmn the paat.‘ In the paat people here had avery-

thmg, they could ptoogfc and «tt>- vate cropa, had enough tneai and m ilk ao peopk were not totally dependent o r mooey Y e*n age- fhw area uaod to be beautiful and productive. The nver would now be flooding W e <fcd not bey nril* aa we had cattle to milx O v dnldxen were heahhv and happy.’The drough* n ooiy nne of the

reasons why there is now a decline in the m raj areas ® Bopbuthaty- wana In the Dnaobotta <hama. the seasons 1978.9,81/82 and 82.^83 had relatrvely low rainfall, twt they were pot unuaualhr difierenL

They did not fall below ^0 percant •of the mean average raprfall Government offkaais spokx of a severe drought that cotno every 200 years

b a r the Spne* do not anppart dab

The-draoglH alone cmnrx : erpiara the cn »i.m rural areas. Thr drought has aggravated tkeae tynjptoma ot poverty , it did not canae tbeac.

In the Duaobolia db tnct o< Bopiuitnawwana, ca n a i tarrc tebnoz p r e m d e d p t « p * e with a KADCC of aoeocDe. B at thnae >ohc oc longer cxtsi •' The area's popMiaboêontinoes-to g j v m , a t la s becanae -of farted removals froen ekewhere The land cannot support everybotty. C^ver gaaOBg and ovcrcroppvag have dep*etec the land s reaerve*. and the b ad a denuded from severe aoil eroaaoc

Many people hrve -aheady used « e r , aeasoo i aeec The ab*e- bodi.^ adults needed to p lra t and K«>vm ; are nearly always absent, and the dtmkevi for ploughing and

transport h*ve beea snot The peop*e are Intmg nope Many

peopie have ap forjob* artnck dc not exisv.- Many tannhes w ill no? p iaa . next year even if it does ram

One mac ir Dnaoboca s a il ‘It u dKhcuh to feed ihe □mcren There are oo >oba where ane could work to beyfood

In the p e r . food from the previous year ooold be naed during the* drought It k am e dxfLcuh ic vict friends tn the nearby n£ages to ask for help as the oeiv in ears of transport was the ocmkeys. they have J no* beer, killed *

Anothe; watuai. aasC *1 would ; lather move to tzrtrac areas and seek a prrm anen; too and *c would leave the c ln x lre j a ; acxrx and seek a jo b ( o^rrde > Ae aasaxopoeJ; tbe place | n d ry , there isno lood . bvestock die | m large numbers Peopie suffer ;

from diaeaaes W e pay m uct a c c e ' for food.'

Another reaideni concludes! *Ufe today is unbearaOtr. there c no access to the basic needs erf ê people . . the h ie of the v w ie n has changed They want to f~ aack »o therr previous hfc wnere a o all lived harmoniously T V k x ' will be the same as oert yea; lo o n ' thma that there is any hope icr oer. vear and conditK’ns will s

THE DISTRIBUTION of drought and flood relief has beec marked by widespread corrufxaoe aad an increase in the power of tribal authorities.

In the C ake ;, drocgnt relief has been used for direct pobocal leverage — ic seme are* ; a»d has only beer, made avaiiafi*e to Ctskei National Indepenoencr Parly (CNIP) card-carrying members and

been used to ea r a d the power and local elues.Of the R500 tmlhoe allocated by

the central government for drought relief in November B£3. only R50 tnilboo went to the Homelands

In 1983 the drougtr rchef board Pcoded to distribute scans, peanuts

‘Drought re lie f’ — a path of destruction

grant from the central government ic the following wayv

and meabe meal in Gazankulu.Some of this food was to be chtavbilled free o t ch»rrc to the »R> , ^ ClCBtmt. em riownem U R2 oe: n eedy, tod tcmc w is lo be K>Jd I I ! d j> jobi , . rr Lhjoujhcost price j tr ib tj autbon ty. &lf y*’\De themThe G aia atu lu rham ner of Com

merce however, persuaoeci the Gazankulu gove’nmer't oo> to distribute maize si cost because it would undercut tbe»r sales

The G skei g.'vem m eni »ay? it spent a Rfc million drought nehef

to tighten then control over rural areas

• R T 00U *a< apeni on feed ig families withc-ui bread »ior.=r^, ag£^; through tribal authornes• One million was apert o r w ate' | all

thstribiitsoj. and Uvr res*, oo fodder, | subfidv-e at 73 percent by the Cis- j Lc. and SA government This favoured oo>- the wealth • because im ca! Ciskr* pco^'ie have nc cattle ar !

tn Venda drt*ugh- relief aaec selectively tc bu» fodder aoc. create emplovmem toi fnends am reia- t?vcj of presiden: Mpftroa%i Drouebt relief w » i allrped^ heiu tro ir opj>Jvit»or a rt is aae

* = - -

THE DROUGHT STATE OF THE NATION * '■

I

M S 000 of c a tt le d iad m tf>* Trwnafcai in 10 monttta • o w 1 000 a da*

he power of life and death

f m an Ihraa In• d rought-atnc k a n ra lcca tto n

a r * * n » i rMaflicang. HI* o o n k eys trm r* •not a t part of

Bophutat- t v a n a i ‘d rought

raOar program m a. Now

h a and h i* g ran d eh llo ran

| h m ts pwf! tha carl

Mutaie a ! S io iiaTbe rooai comrêrsiaJ drought

r r h f ' »-hrip< «■» H>c g jdonkeys in Bopassiiaijwina supposedly as a 'drovgn: relief measure'. 10 000 donkeys were killed before grassroots condemnation halted the massacre Donkeys are esacacal to the rural

, economy for carryt^ and ploughing yet no compessasjor was paid to the owners and many were senousiy impovenshed.At the same time wealthier groups

in Bopnuthats*ana were given >boost R25-mill*oo w*s provided as assistance tc Agncor and wealtnier farmers in the Temzsanc projects.

D r o u g h t a i d » the n n iareas oftesc hccom ns a pofct> cai too* aaed agamax op o o

oents o f the hom eiaads o r tribal authorities.Mgwadi, near Stutrerbcnn in Ihe

[Eastern Cape, is one of the m any |1 black spots' scheduled for rem ove

th a caae. tbe peopk arc to-be to Frankfort m preaidnt! S e ta 's Caafcei.

Row upon i tm of zmc toOeu covering the landscape bear ailent feew trmony to tbe scale of the planned rem oves About £ 000 Mgwaii dent* are to be settled there

A t the one eodr a long tttzn row of wooden shacks has been set op o e r to the toilets. A group of people boon A isaua, oear Catbcart, tave there.Tbe other toilets are left to the dry

wind, and more and more coilapac as time goes by. A loop tune a*c MgwaL was first told n would have to move Since then residents nave been reaming under the leadership of the Mgwaii Residents Association (M R A )

l r the ongoing war bf attrition bet - ween the authorities and the peopt • of M gwaii. any weapon is used. And the drought aid programmes run by tbe G skei government provide jus: such a weapor.

Ironically although Mgwaii a toE part of South Afnca, the Ciskci gov em ment already parti all v admin*- ters it. The schootr fall under the C iskei Education Department, the d im e is run by Ctskei and attempts are being made to focce residents to apply for Cukei ID documents, instea d of the South AJhcan reference books they are enntled to. Ail this is being resisted ■ Si©4*riy. drought aid program mes by the Ciskei government are implemented in Mgwaii.The drought aid comes in three

forms. M ealiemeal is handed out to needy families. A programme has been set up to employ people to do odd jobs like repair or clean roads And finally there is fodder which a made available to farmers at a nominal rate of R l a bale However. access to all of these ts

dependent on political standpoint The headmen control the aid. and refuse it io anyone who is not a member of the Ctskei National

- ‘r?:; r

* * - -• '

, - r .^ - - -

D avastabon In rura l a r a a s - but drought ra lla f n a v a r a rr iv e sIndependence Party (CNH*)A report in the Eastern Province

Herald of June 27 1983. quoted the then secretary of the M RA , Mr Pnngie hfooebe, as saying bags of desperately needed m ealiem ei! were being left in the tribal author iry office to rot T he mealie meal is mfested with worms,' be said

In some cases possession of a CNIP card is not enough. An old man who used tc serve on the committee of the headman and had a card from them, said he had been refused rations.

'The headman told me I'm no!

going to ger it because 1 am no*, working in any way for the government. He said I must re-apply for another card and I told him I won't do that because here's nothing I'm getting from this government.’ be said.

Even tfte jobs being offered as part of the scheme are oniy available to those with CNIP cards The card must be up to date. If it is not. the applicant first has to renew it before oeing considered for the jobs, which pay R40 a month

From that amount, deductions are made lor development tas One

woman had R10 deduaac from he- pay, and was tokl she sttndd coiler* R2.50 from three other TrsadeniAio: . development tax S ix * c oemg made to pay on their nrrra'f anc forced to demand the tax rrxr. th ee . to get her own money baa.A spokesperson for the M RAsaic

*So a person is employee r* the go* - emment to pick up piasa: Even d they feei that this acuoc of oetng ruled in this way is wrotip tha per - ton will have to folio* s s : to the headman ’

‘Even if they don't respect tfte . h radnan even if they a a : t seiieê ' what he savs, because c£ »< great * need they are in they sim p« Save tc pretend tc accept it

Cattie teed has beer s^sused is ! ▼arvous ways Heac raer. nave ; bought up large quastxt^rr of feec intended for the viilagen *; ; r o r r ! nai raie of R l a bale an : sew3 it tc tne white farmers in the r t a For a wtuie. villagers • i r o n t tc

buy fodder had to go tc k*r.g Wii- ham s Town to indicate nr*- many ba*es they wanted anC prt for tnetr. ' a : the Zwehtsha M ag^trstr » Coun before returning to king ~ iiI^ t . s Town to coiiecr the b a le

VlLagers felt the ceerrUcated ‘ arrangement served u restnr. ■ accea to the aid H i- a c t that | people had to transport tnr sates to Mgwaii tnemselves mcarr oniv the wealthier tarmers, who tee-jed ir e ! aid less were able to afiarr to mak; use of the offer.Since October, bowevr* me fod

der has been made iv n u M t m I MgâL itself Nevertheless resi dents w y it is not possibc get the fodoer if one does not hav; a CNIP ! member^hm card

After the publicity grwea u> the , refusa! of aid to resioena wunout 1 CNIP cards, the G sk t Director j General of Health. Dr L 2 Mamba said if this was happens^ k wa> irregular. He said a simua* rT>Wen» j had occurred in the Hew* district, j *but we sorted that out *However, residents report chat no

attempt was made by tte department to investigate the ooRpiamts j There were rwo more hawwuts tr. J the penoc ■ after d * reporrs; appeared, and in both cases, only supporters of the Set>e go*?rnmcni j received a»d

Collection Number: AK2117 DELMAS TREASON TRIAL 1985 - 1989 PUBLISHER: Publisher:-Historical Papers, University of the Witwatersrand Location:-Johannesburg ©2012

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