The land question in South Africa

 The land question in South Africa

By Qaqamba Matundu

The background on the issue of the land reform in South Africa is as follows, it has been said that the original sin of apartheid was dispossession of land in 1913 by the means of legislation –the Native Land Act -by the government at the time, which created a system of land ownership that deprived most South Africans of the right to own land. It resulted in most of the land being held by the white minority, while the black population -including colored and Indian communities were dispossessed of their land. The Act restricted people of color from buying or occupying land and over time, most of these people were relocated to ‘homelands and townships. As a result, breadwinners were often forced to look for work far away from their homes which led to range of related socio-economic problems. Despite the Act being repealed in 1991, the land reform process has been slow and, in many cases, ineffective, leaving many still landless and living in poverty. Efforts to redress this contentious land question in an equitable manner have been an ongoing exercise ever since.

I believe the central theme of the music video of Ksazobalit is that, it’s about to get great, the land is ours and Cassper is trying to show us how it could look like if things can be done right to our people and by that, I mean when the land is distributed amongst each other equally, black people can be wealthy, have their farms and get along with whites. You could see how happy those farmers are.  The other main theme of the music video I would say is the fact that, even if you have land, that doesn’t mean you are rich. You must use the land in order to be wealthy. People tend to have that mentality of thinking if you have land then you are rich which is not true. According to Sibisi, the other theme on the video is at the end where media personality Pearl Thusi arrives on a horse and holds a fist in the air. She is wearing a red dress which is the symbol representing the blood that was shed during that time when the land was taken and her being on a horse represents a great future where women are in power, and it end with #We are ready. (2018)

Yes, the song was effective in promoting positive discourse. First, the music video was dropped on Freedom Day 27 April 2018. When apartheid ended in South Africa, the new government passed a law allowing black people who had been forcibly removed from their land by whites to claim their property, but in many black communities’ people still struggle to recover land from white owners. So, on Ksazobalit video Cassper is also highlighting black reclamation of land. Even the commander in Chief of the EFF, Julius Malema, who has been an advocate for land expropriation without compensation, showed love to Nyovest for the video. Reports as “Thank you very much my brother @CassperNyovest for the powerful music video, the message is very clear that indeed when we get our land #Ksazobalit #WeAreReady #LandIsDignity.” (2018)

First of all, “Music is therapy. Music moves people. It connects people in a way that no other medium can. It acts as medicine.” -Mecklemore. I think music can foster culture of mutual understanding in society because music teaches us languages that we do not know. I stay in a place full of coloreds called Eersterivier where coloreds do jam to Xhosa songs even though they do not understand a word, but they keep on listening, same as me, my neighbor is colored and he sometimes on weekends plays songs that I enjoy. I know the words of the song, but I do not know what it means, so that’s why I say music can foster mutual understanding. We jam on the music as a community.

The music video I know that is addressing important sociocultural issue is Phumelela by MissPru Dj and various artists that was dropped in 2017. The video did the most simultaneously told powerful stories of different realities we are faced with every day. The story telling elements of the video was dope and the message at the echoes the current state of politics in the country: Say No to Xenophobia, Racism, Homophobia, Poverty & HIV/AIDS. Xenophobic attacks still take place in South Africa, a Nigerian man in the video is killed brutally, the black community wants to set him alight. People tend to say ‘foreigners are here in SA to take our jobs’ that’s when they attack them calling them names like kwere-kwere.

Reports as “Racism has existed throughout the history of South Africa, before the universal suffrage was achieved in 1994, white South Africans especially Afrikaners during the period of Apartheid, enjoyed various legally of socially sanctioned privileges and rights which were denied to others.” (Wikipedia,2021) On the video, a black hungry man that I believe is a worker at the farm was caught picking fruits on a white man’s farm. He was beaten by the owner with fits and robe.

HIV/AIDS has been one of the diseases that carries stigma. People are judged and others do not want to associate themselves with positive people, that is displayed on the music video. A couple is at the doctor, and they see the test results and the man is diagnosed with HIV I believe. The lady stands up, takes off the ring and leave the room but at the end the lady takes Pre HIV counseling.

Say no to homophobia. LGBTQ+ community globally faces stigma, prejudice and violence everyday around the world. In the mission to achieve the UN’s Global Goals and end extreme poverty, the world is held back from progress while communities continue to be marginalized. A man is coming out to his family about his sexuality, but he gets judged and later chased away. In other communities LGBTQ+ family is accepted because at the end we see a wedding of Gays and people are cheering up.