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The Nature of the Agrarian Land Question in the Republic of South Africa
Author(s) -
Daniels Rudolph
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1987.tb01752.x
Subject(s) - land tenure , geography , agrarian society , distribution (mathematics) , cape , legislature , white (mutation) , resource (disambiguation) , agrarian structure , inequality , development economics , economy , agriculture , economics , archaeology , mathematical analysis , computer network , biochemistry , computer science , gene , chemistry , mathematics
A bstract . Most of the land in South Africa is dommnated by 4.5 million Whites. A tiny fraction of this key resource is designated for Black occupation in Black townships in White South Africa and for Black ownership in the ten “ homelands. ” Several interrelated factors account for the lop sided land distribution that exists in South Africa. The two most important factors are the removal of native occupants from the majority of the land, accomplished by early Dutch settlers , and legislative measures that were designed to guarantee a White controlled economy and foster economic development by assuring an abundant supply of disenfranchised and cheap black labor The extent of the inequality in the land distribution suggests that, from the viewpoint of ownership and control , Blacks were better off prior to 1652 when the first Dutch settlers arrived at the Cape.