When was SA stolen?

When President Jacob Zuma spoke to traditional leaders last week, his off-the-cuff remarks started a whole new land debate.

Abridged opening from the intended speech

As you are aware, the importance of traditional leaders does not start now. They played a key role in fighting colonialism and apartheid.

Traditional leaders were present in the establishment of the ANC as the liberation movement that was to fight for decades to liberate South Africa and her people from subjugation and institutionalised racism.

As we mark 22 years of freedom this year, we confirm that, as South Africa, we are united against racism. We were reminded sharply early this year that there is still a need to continue the fight against racism and prejudice and to ensure that respect for all, regardless of race, colour or creed, is entrenched among all our people.

We know that when people have jobs, traditional leaders will be happy, as it means a better life for your people. As an important stakeholder, we believe the National House of Traditional Leaders and the institution of traditional leadership must lead in the implementation of our plans.

The Fetsa Tlala/Xoshindlala Food Security Programme, through which communities are assisted to produce their own food, is part of this plan. I have been informed that traditional leaders continue to participate in this important programme.

We have noted that some of the productive communal land under traditional councils remains inadequately utilised. I urge traditional leaders to encourage communities to plough and till the productive land so that they can produce healthy food for their families and reduce the levels of food insecurity and poverty that are so prevalent.

A number of government departments are assisting in alleviating the effects of the drought. The primary focus currently is on funding for emergency or immediate needs. It is a difficult period for farmers and communities alike. But working together, we will overcome this hardship. We always overcome our challenges because we work together as South Africans when faced with difficulties.

During the debate on my address to this august House last year, we spent a lot of time discussing the negative impact that land dispossession has had on the lives of black people in South Africa.

The dispossession of our land is the source of the poverty and inequality, which have become the ugly hallmark of our nation and an impediment to a future of shared prosperity.

In my address last year I urged traditional leaders to join their efforts in claiming land on behalf of the communities they lead that was taken away, rather than lodging competing claims.I have been informed some work in this regard has started, championed by the National House of Traditional Leaders.

I strongly believe that access to land and security of land tenure are key to development, especially agricultural development. Land reform lies at the centre of government’s efforts to bring about inclusive economic development. It is at the centre of the National Development Plan.

I urge traditional leaders to thoughtfully and actively engage with the matter of land reform on behalf of the communities they lead.

I am raising this, as we can talk about agriculture and food security but, without access to land, our people cannot plough and feed themselves or contribute to economic growth.

What he then said while speaking off the cuff

Let me underline this point because I believe that, among [the] many things we talk about in our country, this is one of the most fundamental problems.

Today we talk about the triple challenges that we have: poverty, inequality, unemployment.

At times when people talk about this today, they talk about it as if it was created by freedom, as if before 1994 there was plenty of everything. People have forgotten. They even write volumes to try to criticise the government – that this government has brought these kinds of challenges.

And we are working on a number of programmes to try to address these. But can we address poverty, inequality and unemployment without addressing the land question fundamentally? I don’t think we can.

You recall, and I said this last time, that the first secretary-general of the ANC, [Sol] Plaatje, said that one day the black man woke up without land, and yet they went to sleep with land and everything. They were worse than slaves in their own country
of birth.

In other words, that was the introduction of this severe cycle of poverty. Because without land, what else can you do?

Therefore, the issue of land has been a problem perpetually. As much as we say we need to utilise the land in the areas of our communities, the reality is that what used to be referred to as the 13% that we owned ... the population in those places which used to be called reserves has grown, and the land has not grown.

As a result, in many areas the settlements almost look like townships, because they are now crowded. There is no space. The land does not grow, but the population grows.

Many who may be of my age, and a little bit [older], will agree that we used to hunt in some of the areas; we can no longer hunt anything because there is no space. The land that used to be used for ploughing is now residential and is not growing; the population is growing. That’s the reality that faces all of us.

I think a genuine question arises in the process of us reclaiming land.

What are we reclaiming?

Part of the reason I made a proposal that you need to have one serious legal firm that must represent all of us [and] have one approach, is to deal with this issue in some detail.

The very law we have today to claim is lopsided against black people. It’s very difficult for you to prove that this land belongs to your ancestors and it’s very easy for a landowner to say you can’t get the land. That’s how the law is.

But another question that is important for us to ask is a life-and-death question: if you talk about inequality, poverty and unemployment, the bulk of those people are black people ... and it emanated from the land dispossession.

Was the decision to make 1913 the cutoff date correct? Perhaps yes. But was the land taken in 1913?

I believe, percentage wise, the land that was taken after 1913 is very small, very insignificant [compared with] the land that was taken in 18-something.

That’s when the biggest chunk of the land was taken. 1913 was legalising the land that had already been taken. It was the consolidation of the colonisation of South Africa.

All that we are fiddling about is a small percentage where they realised that there was some fertile land here which [they] did not take, and then removed people then.

The bulk of the land and the defeat of many of our people was in particularly the 1800s. It’s a matter for us ... we cannot keep quiet and die, as we did when we were oppressed. It’s a matter we need to raise and discuss and find a solution to.

I believe, as a son of a black man, being black on my own as always, that we need to shift that cutoff date, but we need to find reasonable ways of addressing the issue within the Constitution and within the law.

Look at the facts – where do these people who are in informal settlements come from? Where is their land? Is it a lie that the land was taken?

Part of the reason I made the suggestion the last time that you need to have a powerful legal firm that must address this issue, if it means changing certain things, is that that’s what we must do for our lives, because we are dying because of poverty.

There are many things that are happening to us. It’s a critical matter from my point of view and I would urge that [you] talk to your black intelligentsia, to do research and think and innovate [on] how do we deal with this question so that we can address poverty.

[There’s] no need to be shy about it. Whether you are keeping quiet, you are undermined; you are named and given names every day. Whether you try to make yourself nice, you are not looked at as a nice person – you are looked at as stupid [and] as every other thing.

One of the things that you need to deal with properly as traditional leaders is this. But you need to do it in an organised fashion, [legally] within the Constitution, but raise the issues properly so that we can address the issue of poverty and inequality.

History will blame us that when we had the opportunity to correct wrongs, we did not.

If we do not deal with this question, I can tell you, generations to come will be in poverty. They will not be equal to others; they will be unemployed. I think we have an opportunity to do so.

My view is that even the reconstruction of the organisation of traditional leaders into the houses should have meaning by addressing the issues that affected your people – not [by] fight[ing]. The problem is that people make too much noise, fight [and] complain. Raise the issues properly, fundamentally.

That is the critical issue you need to [address]. To correct wrongs is not wrong; it’s correct.

The question that faces us today: is freedom complete? When I talk to other people I explain this thing and I want to explain it for whatever it is worth and people can call me names ... fine.

As an African, I have been called names since I was born. My father, my mother, my grandfather – I am not worried about it.

There are three basic things, if you talk about a state, that relate to power: it’s political power, one of the pillars of the state; it’s economic power, the second pillar of the state; and then security power. Do we have these? We don’t.

Can we then rest and say everything is done?

Therefore, when we talk about black industrialists and black economic empowerment, we are dealing with one pillar of the state. [When] you are in China ... in Brazil and everywhere, the majority of the citizens of those countries are in control of their economy. Are you in control of your economy? Not!

And we can’t therefore rest and can’t therefore fight among ourselves. We need to unite so that we can accomplish these. Because if you are not in control of the economy you are not in control of your country. I must not go any further because I have got [the] Nkandla economy and people are going to think now I am talking Nkandla economy [laughs].

But the Nkandla economy is very right. Do you know how simple it is? If your neighbour doesn’t have food, you need to help your neighbour. It’s not, like, hidden. That’s simple economy.

I am saying this because we can’t say [it] as traditional leaders. We don’t know what to do. There is a lot to do. You need when you meet like this to look at the fundamental issues that affect the black person in this country. We cannot be shy about it.

Because it is a black person who was dispossessed of the land – therefore take political power, economic power and security power. If we don’t correct it – and we hope it will be corrected by generations to come – they will ask a question: why didn’t they do it when they had the opportunity to do so?

I am merely emphasising this point because I feel very strong[ly] about the land question. We have made attempts, taken steps, but we still need to sit down and say what else we need to do before we tell the misery of each and every one of us. To say how we solve the problems going forward, that is a critical point.

Then he returned to his original speech, with off-the-cuff remarks at the end (abridged)

We thank traditional leaders for their contribution to South Africa’s success. I am looking forward to a debate. I raised issues that other people don’t want to be raised.

If I didn’t raise them I wouldn’t be an African and I don’t apologise for being an African and I can’t apologise for my oppression and the struggle that has taken place. Never and no matter what name I may be called, I will forge forward.

Because I believe we must reach a prosperous South Africa in our life time. Working together, let us move this beautiful country forward.

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While land restitution is necessary, how far back in history should we go to restore African ownership?

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