[wvns] Apartheid’s legacy turns farmland to desert
Apartheid's legacy turns farmland to desert
By Moyiga Nduru
Updated May 14, 2007
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_3477.shtml
South Africa: Whites Own 90% Land (NAM, 03-16-2007)
A view over part of Soweto, south of Johannesburg, South Africa, shows
the divide between squatter shacks and regular township dwellings, May
1, 2002. This sprawling township once was the symbol of the struggle
by South African Blacks against racist apartheid rule. Photo: AP/World
Wide Photos
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (IPS/GIN) - South African apartheid was
dismantled more than a decade ago, but it continues to haunt the
northern and eastern parts of the country in the form of land degradation.
Overcrowding of the country's "homeland"—areas formerly set aside for
Blacks—tired out the land and began a process of degradation and
desertification that continues to worsen.
Ten homelands were created along ethnic lines under the Promotion of
Bantu Self-Government Act of 1959. This act aimed to strip Black South
Africans of their national citizenship and make them citizens of
homelands that were ultimately intended to become independent.
"Apartheid policies ensured that 42 percent of the people lived on 13
percent of the land. This overcrowding resulted in severe erosion. As
the land became increasingly degraded and thus less productive,
subsistence farmers were forced to further overuse the land,"
according to the Enviro Facts Project, a think-tank funded by the
Southern African Nature Foundation.
Klaus Kellner, a professor at the School of Environmental Sciences and
Development at North-West University, said the problem is social and
political, as well as environmental.
"Land tenure is a problem in the former homelands. People don't own
the land; the land is owned by the government—so they think it's a
government problem," he said. "I think it is the people's problem. If
they don't look after it, the land will not be there for the next
generation."
According to 2004-2005 statistics from the Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism, about 13.6 million people live in the former
homelands. Official figures from 2006 indicate that there are 47.4
million people in South Africa.
"We must create alternative livelihoods for the people, like
[attracting] eco-tourism, so that they don't live off the land," Prof.
Kellner said.
Ismail Khan echoed Prof. Kellner's concerns. A researcher at the
University of South Africa in the capital, Pretoria, Mr. Khan studies
the links between poverty and land degradation.
"Poverty must be addressed for people to earn more money through jobs.
If poverty is addressed, it would ease the pressure on land," he said.
"The majority of the more than 40 percent unemployed South Africans
live in remote rural areas with no decent earnings."
The precise extent of joblessness in South Africa is disputed.
Government puts the figure at 25.5 percent, but some believe it is
considerably higher.
However, alternatives for income generation will not eliminate the
need for initiatives to address the existing problems of land degradation.
"Millions of people are directly affected by natural-resource
degradation, and many of them live below the poverty line," Deputy
Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister, Rejoice Mabudafhasi said.
"They depend on natural resources for survival. Yet, the capacity of
our country's land, water and biological resources to sustain its
people is eroding. Tons of productive land are now lost and many once
pristine conservation areas are denuded."
About 20 programs have been put in place to address desertification.
However, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Minister Marthinus van
Schalkwyk has expressed concern about the level of coordination
between these initiatives, saying it does not match what is needed for
land to be managed sustainably.
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