Digging through betterment: an archaeological investigation into nineteenth and twentieth century farming in rural south-eastern South Africa
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Date
2021
Authors
Henshall, Tiffany Fae
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Abstract
Betterment Planning in South Africa has been extensively researched and
documented by social anthropologists and historians. The research has found
that Betterment Planning had a devastating impact on the communities in rural
Eastern Cape, and is a policy that was resisted throughout South Africa.
While this social science research is comprehensive, this thesis uses remote
sensing to examine the macro spatial changes that occurred in settlement and
farming as a result of Betterment Planning in Cata in the Eastern Cape, and
the long-term impact that this Betterment Planning had on the landscape.
These changes are placed in the context of longer-term continuity and change
in settlement configurations in the Eastern Cape under colonial rule (nineteenth
and twentieth century), apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. This is
accomplished by the mapping, classification and interpretation of historical
settlements in Cata using aerial imagery as well as more recent satellite
imagery. This investigation was combined with environmental data to
understand how the area has changed over time.
The pre-Betterment phase is represented by the original settlement until 1963.
The Betterment phase, from 1964 until the end of apartheid in 1994, comprises
the time during and shortly after the implementation of Betterment Planning.
These periods were individually investigated to identify the spatial configuration
of each period in the development of the Cata community. The individual
datasets are then discussed in relation to each other, to establish how the
community evolved over time and how national and local regulations impacted
the community, with a view to understanding why the Cata area has developed
into the village it is today. This data is compared with current environmental
data to investigate the longer-term impact of Betterment Planning on Cata
Description
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Faculty of Science, School of Geography, Archeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021
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Citation
Henshall, Tiffany Fae (2021) Digging through betterment: an archaeological investigation into nineteenth and twentieth century farming in rural south-eastern South Africa, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/32388>