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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Land Issues in the Context of South African Agriculture |
Author: | Galvankar, Mausumi J. |
Year: | 1998 |
Periodical: | African Currents |
Volume: | 13 |
Issue: | 26 |
Period: | October |
Pages: | 88-106 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | land reform agricultural development agricultural policy Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Law, Human Rights and Violence Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Development and Technology |
Abstract: | South African agriculture has had a long history of ever increasing governmental interventions. By the time that the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, most of the agricultural land was in the hands of whites. Africans lived on white farms as labourers or tenants. Between 1910 and 1935 no less than 87 bills were enacted by parliament relating to land and these were mainly aimed at dividing agricultural land along racial lines. To allow white farming to expand, severe restrictions were imposed on independent black farming. Agricultural development priorities and policies were continually redefined and adapted in accordance with the unfolding racial ideology of the State. At the present juncture, South African agriculture is decidedly dualistic - subsistence (mainly black) and commercial (mainly white). The two sectors differ considerably. The racial division of land has been highly contentious over the past forty years, and land reform in the 'new' South Africa is an emotive issue. However, agricultural production in both commercial and developing farming in South Africa is faced with the challenge of restructuring, and the racial division of farmlands as governed by the 1913 and 1936 Land Acts is one of the major issues for attention. Ref. |