Competition

While today was obnoxiously long and draining, mentally, I feel incredibly charged. The entirety of this trip has I feel, has been incredibly intellectual, and I feel as if my brain is constantly on high alert. Today, through sleepy and after-lunch eyes, we faced our second lecturer who spoke extensively about land reform and the issue of redistribution in post-apartheid South Africa. This topic, while it may seem trivial, is incredibly dense, I feel. This rose many emotions for me, and even though I felt I knew a lot about this topic due to my ties with Zimbabwe, I am pleased to say that I learned and realized quite a lot throughout the course of this lecture and the discussion which followed it.
I had always thought about the Zimbabwe issue as a Mugabe issue, that is to say that all of the land reform mishaps in Zimbabwe came about as a direct result of Mugabe’s failure to lead effectively. This, I have now realized, is only partly true. As we discussed, Mugabe’s enactment of the controversial and devastating land reform policies was primarily opportunistic, and instead of encouraging the vote, I feel that it should stand out and do the contrary: showing his ineptitude as a leader. The real driving force behind the policies came from the people themselves, that is to say that it was a socially popular movement. The people were the ones who gave rise to their own demise, in a sense.
Our lecturer as well as many others have voiced their concerns and fears over the situation in South Africa, they dread more than anything having it turn into another Zimbabwe. With Whites controlling approximately 80% of South African land today, it seems that a similar policy could rise in South Africa if one is not careful. However, after the lecture today I must say that my fears are somewhat nullified about this view. True, South Africa has come a long way since the violence and heavy protesting of the apartheid era, however as we discussed, the South African model of revolution came about in an almost exclusively urban way.
Along with this, South African contemporary society has been based around an urban lifestyle, in places like Johannesburg and Cape Town. This is distinctively different from Zimbabwe, which used to be known as the “breadbasket of Africa”. This nickname sheds light on the fact that Zimbabwe has seemingly been a very rural and farm based society. Even from my short time in Bulawayo, the second most major city, I saw that life there is centered on the farm. Bulawayo is very spread out, and it is entirely common to see plots of farmland intermixed amongst the suburban neighborhoods, and the main city is completely encircled by farms. This has given Zimbabwe an increasingly rural society, whereas South Africa is defined by it’s urban political arousals.
In this way, it seems unlikely that South Africa would ever experience such a social revolution in the same manner as Zimbabwe precisely due to the fact that all of South Africa’s political activity thus far has come from its metropolitan centers. There is a serious lack of a strong political activist base in places like the Transkei and other rural areas, and due to this, it seems unlikely that there would ever be a strong enough political movement that would ever push land reforms in a direction similar to that of Zimbabwe. While this has pacified my concerns somewhat, it does nothing to remedy the actual land reform issue facing South Africa today.
The fact of the matter is that South Africa is facing a crossroads. What can be done to remedy this serious situation? There is no way that South Africa can fool itself by claiming it has reconciled with the past when 80% of the land lies in the hands of Whites. I must say that I did like the idea of a TRC for land. However romantic and grand this idea sounds, the fact is that no White land owner will most likely willingly give up a vast majority or any of the land they feel has been in their family for generations. So that while a TRC for land is a lofty goal, in practice it seems a little far away.
As much as I desire to look at this from a strictly economic view, the reality is that this is not entirely possible. Yes, I still have faith that economics will come into play and solve the problem ever so minutely and slowly, it is very true that another method is necessary to move things along faster and more efficiently. The way in which this should be done, however is not clear to me now, and I do resolve to think on this for some time to come. I also will find more time to think on a solution, now that my fears of a second Zimbabwe have been put to rest. This is, of course, in addition to the fact that now I view Mugabe in a different light. I still hold no respect for the man, however I feel that when he enacted the disastrous policies that he did, he did so out of a bid for popular support rather than the mass destruction of his country. This makes him out to be a little less mad, but even more of an inept leader. In this regard, I have opted to change my perception and view of this issue to a more knowledgeable and informed position, and one of objectivity rather than blame or resentment.