Namaqualand and Challenges to the Law: Community Resource Management and Legal Frameworks

Abstract

"Land reform in the arid Namaqualand region of South Africa offers unique challenges. Most of the land is owned by large mining companies and white commercial farmers. The government's restitution programme which addresses dispossession under post 1913 Apartheid land laws, will not be the major instrument for land reform in Namaqualand. Most dispossession of indigenous Nama people occurred during the previous century or the State was not directly involved. Redistribution and land acquisition for those in need of land based income opportunities and qualifying for State assistance will to some extent deal with unequal land distribution pattern. Surface use of mining land, and small mining compatible with large-scale mining may provide new opportunities for redistribution purposes. The most dramatic land reform measures in Namaqualand will be in the field of tenure reform, and specifically of communal tenure systems."