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Dr_Meinheimer
Guest
Of course not, but imagine if the government with seizing property selectively based on race or gender or religion.
Really? Apartheid in South Africa wasn’t brutal? That’s, shall we say, a unique point of view.I think “brutal oppression” is a bit of an overstatement.
That’s, well, amazing.Brutal oppression to me conjures up images like the Einstatzgruppen murdering Eastern Europeans on the side of the road to free up the land for Germans, or perhaps SWAPO cutting out the tongue, hands, and feet and burning out the eyes of the local village headman for not providing them food and shelter and women.
Apartheid was unjust, but I wouldn’t call it “brutal oppression”.
I really want to hear what you think apartheid entailed, how it was enforced, etc. that you think it wasn’t brutal.Apartheid was unjust, but I wouldn’t call it “brutal oppression”.
Restitution is not a wrong.And two wrongs don’t make a right.
Restitution for what?Restitution is not a wrong.
Worth repeating.I have never deeply researched it. My information about the land acquisition comes chiefly from Alan Paton’s “Cry the Beloved Country”, which I consider not a terrible source. Anyway, it appears the Dutch arrived at about the same time as the Zulu did; perhaps a bit earlier. The area was then very thinly populated. The Dutch and the Zulu fought, then more or less divided up the country between them. The English came in, fought against both and took over the country, largely leaving land ownership in place.
The natives from whom the land was actually “taken” were “bushmen” hunter-gatherers who were pushed off the land by both the Dutch and the Zulu.
Later, more and more and more black tribesmen came into the area; sometimes fighting the Dutch, sometimes the English and sometimes the Zulu. Eventually, other tribes outnumbered the Zulu who were largely pushed into a province called Natal.
But it’s my understanding people can move around within the country. Zulu are not restricted to Natal. There are a couple of “independent homelands” within the country that have long been ruled by tribal rulers.
So, the parties from which the land was “taken” were the Bushmen, of whom few ever existed and of whom even fewer are left. The “original settlers” otherwise are the Boers and the Zulu.
South African lawmakers are currently debating expropriation of some 150 farms in the country, including whether a constitutional amendment would be needed to move forward with the plan and what compensation might look like. One opposition party has proposed taking land from white property owners who are not using the land and giving the land to black farmers, but is opposed to compensation.
President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote in the Financial Times today that “this is no land grab; nor is it an assault on the private ownership of property.”
“The proposal on expropriation without compensation is one element of a broader programme of land reform that seeks to ensure that all citizens can have their land rights recognised, whether they live in communal areas, informal settlements or on commercial farms," Ramaphosa wrote. "It includes the release of well-located urban land for low-cost housing so that the poor can own property and live close to economic opportunities.”
If the land is being returned to the family that owned it, that might be restitution. If it is being taken by the government, it’s tyranny.
So far it has been the former. And in most cases compensation is paid to the white farmers.LeafByNiggle:![]()
If the land is being returned to the family that owned it, that might be restitution. If it is being taken by the government, it’s tyranny.
If forced relocation is brutal then the current government is doing the same and therefore brutally oppressing.Forced relocation and forcing people out of the political process is pretty bad but I wouldn’t call it brutal.
I’m not seeing article where expropriation has already occurred.So far it has been the former. And in most cases compensation is paid to the white farmers.
I’m not seeing article where expropriation has already occurred.
Actually the part that is worth repeating is this:Worth repeating.
Some months ago we hadan extended discussion about this version of the history of South Africa.I have never deeply researched it.