The Effects of Land Restitution in South Africa: A Qualitative Study
Author: Bernadette Atuahene
Preliminary research has resulted in the article, “From Reparations to
Restoration: Moving from Restoring Property to Restoring Economic and Political
Visibility,” which argues that when the state confiscates real property from
individuals or communities based on the understanding that they are subhuman,
the victims are excluded from the social contract and subject to “property-induced
invisibility.” Property-induced
invisibility occurs when there is widespread or systematic confiscation or
destruction of real property with no payment of just compensation, which is
executed such that dehumanization occurs.
The act is perpetrated by the state or other prevailing power
structure(s). It adversely affects
powerless people or people made powerless by the act such that they are
effectively left dependent on the state and unable to satisfy their basic needs. The article hypothesizes that giving
dispossessed individuals and communities an array of choices in how they are
compensated will help to bring them into the social contract.
The current project explores this hypothesis in South Africa
where, under the Restitution of Land Rights Act, only those dispossessed of a
right in land after 1913 as a result of a racially discriminatory law or
practice will receive compensation. According
to the white paper, which is the definitive document on land affairs in South Africa,
beneficiaries are supposed to have a choice in how they are compensated. But, in practice, the role of choice is muted
to a large extent and those who have been dispossessed are sometimes not given
the full array of asset-based choices. Consequently, South Africa has two populations
that are valuable for this study--beneficiaries that received compensation in
the form of “reparations” (compensation without choice) and “restoration”
(compensation with choice). Semi-structured
interviews will be conducted with both populations to explore the effects of
compensation.