Reconciling development and security : the Madimbo land restitution process
Date
2015
Authors
Maphwanya, Rudzani
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Abstract
This study explores the interaction between development and national security in the
context of land restitution in an unusually significant setting. Madimbo is a fertile strip
of land on the Limpopo River, and therefore South Africa’s national border with
Zimbabwe. It has been occupied by the South African military since the late 1960s for
the purpose of patrolling the border as well as training. In the process, indigenous
communities were removed from the corridor and resettled in the nearby homelands of
Venda and Gazankulu. Those communities have lodged a land claim which has been
approved pending the conclusion of a lease which would enable the South African
National Defence Force to retain the use of part of the corridor. This is opposed by part
of the claimant community, which wants unfettered ownership and use of the land for
agricultural and other developmental purposes. Negotiations have stalled, and
conditions in the area are deteriorating, thus jeopardising security as well as
development prospects. Given these unusual circumstances, Madimbo provides a
valuable setting for studying the interplay between development and security in postapartheid
South Africa in the context of land reform. It finds that conflicts between the
apparently competing interests of the various role players could be reconciled, provided
all parties commit themselves to the expanded and human-centred conception of
security embedded in South Africa’s post-apartheid constitution and subsequent policy
instruments. It concludes with some practical recommendations for realising this in
practice.
Description
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Keywords
Land reform -- South Africa -- 21st century, National security, South Africa -- Military policy.