The ‘Origin-Story’ of South African Inequality in Disruptive Conflicts in Land, Labour and Product Markets.
By Ayabonga Cawe
Land remains one of the most emotive and symbolically powerful issues in Africa. ‘New’ Settler or ‘Old’ Tenant? confronts this reality directly.
In rural contexts, the collision of history, class, race, gender, time and space complicates efforts to overcome economic inequality. As a result, structural tensions continue to shape rural economies and social relations.
In South Africa, several historical developments converged during the nineteenth century. The end of slavery reshaped labour systems. At the same time, authorities created ‘buffer communities’ for military purposes in the 1850s. These developments collided with the stalled emergence of a relatively self-sufficient Black peasantry.
Inequality and widespread economic inactivity
During the twentieth century, policymakers dismantled this Black agrarian class. At the same time, they incubated white producers and positioned them favourably within product markets. This programme of statecraft explains much of the country’s entrenched inequality and widespread economic inactivity. ‘New’ Settler or ‘Old’ Tenant? examines how this historical process continues to shape the present.
Drawing on a rich body of archival, news, census, legal and primary sources, the book spans almost two centuries of history. Through this evidence, ‘New’ Settler or ‘Old’ Tenant? traces the construction and reproduction of racial hierarchies across land, labour and product markets.
Across the rural Eastern Cape, the narrative follows a wide geographic arc. It begins in the lands between the Fish and Keiskamma rivers. It then moves north toward the Kat River Valley, Sada (Whittlesea) and the Glen Grey area. Along this journey, the book reveals the origin stories behind enduring rural economic conflicts. It also exposes the heavy and tormenting legacy that these struggles impose on the present.
Different futures on the land
The story begins with agrarian reforms of the 1830s, which aimed to secure labour after the end of slavery. It then examines the failed Ciskeian experiments that attempted to remake a Black commercial agrarian class as a ‘buffer community’. In addition, the narrative explores the mass resettlement of people into marginal lands.
Together, these developments form a long historical arc. They reveal multi-generational stories of struggle and change. At the centre of this history stand labour tenants, so-called ‘squatters’ and ‘relocated’ families. These groups acted as historical agents in a struggle over land and livelihoods that lasted more than a century.
In the democratic era, these communities now occupy a different position. Once marginalised and displaced, they now stand as landholders, or perhaps tenants and citizens. Yet many still wait for different futures on the land. They wait in this life. Before heaven.
About the author
Ayabonga Cawe is a developmental economist and policy practitioner. He leads South Africa’s trade tariff-setting body, the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC). In addition, he serves as a sessional lecturer in the School of Economics and Finance at Wits University.
He has published widely on industrial policy, inequality, labour market policy and Black Economic Empowerment. Over the past decade, he has also participated in several policy development processes. Through this work, he continues to contribute to debates on economic transformation and structural reform.
- PUBLISHER | Tracey McDonald Publishers |
- ISBN | 978-0-6398950-4-8 |
- Recommended Retail Price | R410.00 |
- Classification | History, Current Affairs |
For more information | Janine Daniel | +27 (0)83 327 3393 | mail me |
