A black man had to work for other men in his own land to survive. Land dispossession started first when the Dutch colonial settlers arrived at Cape and expand the settlements and took the livestock of South African people. The dispossession of land and the livestock that Dutch settlers at Cape took from the Khoi koi, San, Xhosa, Sotho, and other groups resulted in a war.
The Afrikaner and the British force out the South African from their own land by the law that was enacted. By the time Land Act of 1913 was enacted, land dispossession saw South African people moving out and in the direction of segregation between them and the Afrikaner and the British. The Glen Act that was passed in 1894 which played a key role in the legislation that laid down the foundation of divided South African. And in 1910, after the South African war, the accomplishment was made by the British and the Afrikaners and began working on establishing the South African union. Furthermore, the blacks were excluded in any form of political participation. The legislation was set in motion only making the British and the Afrikaner to reinforce their wealth as the land owners.
This essay will discuss effects of the Land Act of 1913 and the aim of the and its implementation and how the African people view it and their response towards the Act. (Loveland 1999: 133)The implementation the Native Land Act The first implementation of segregation took place at the rural areas into the white farm’s ownership. The Land Act was passed way back before the decision was made on which amount of land was going to be allocated to white people and the amount of land that was going to be allocated to black people. The was a scheduled area which restricted black people from obtaining land out of that areas, which was set by the government to ensure that black people do not utilise any land out side the scheduled areas. The dispossession of land went beyond just forcing black people out of their land and separating them with white people. It closed everything that black people were doing and believing in including the livelihood for the African other than working for the white farmers and the industrialist. (Bradford 1988 36)In august 1913 the Natives Land Commission was announced, and the former Natal administrator was appointed as the head of the commission. In 8 September 1913 the commission started working on the land and it became known as the Beaumont Commission.
The government gave this commission two years to accomplish the work that it was formed to do and submit the report to the government. The purpose of the commission was to investigate the land that is available and come up with the permanent results that will segregate black people from white people. The actual purpose of this commission was look for land within the country and divide it between black people and to regulate ownership and set boundaries between where the black people stay and white peoples land. (Reinhard 1996:81)The aim of the Natives Land of 1913The Natives Land Act of 1913 was responsible for the force removal of black people in South Africa and prevented blacks from buying out the reserves land except those living in Cape province. The movement of black people was severely restricted as their movement outside the reserves were directed by their relationship with white industry and farms. The Land Act was to deny black people any access to land within their own country and the land that its own by them.
Sol Plaatje wrote, “because of the passing of the Natives Land Act groups natives are to be seen in different provinces seeking for new land. They have crossed over from the Free State into the Transvaal and from the Transvaal into the Natal and from Natal into Bechuanaland”. The Land Act deny black people the right to purchasing land and the opportunity to become shareholders into white owned land to reduce competition between black people and white people. (Keegan 1987: 200)The Act cut the sharecropping that has existed between black people and white people and this was initiated with the delay of the implementation and some white landlord wanted to rent a tenant. There was a huge struggle of amongst black people to get hold of the land of their own. The Land Act dispossessed and took black people and locks them into a serfdom, and its impact to black people was philosophical.
The African people were forced to move out of the land that is fertile and were placed into the land were the could not find enough fertile Land for farming. Black people started to be removed from their land by the white farmers immediately after the Land Act was passed. The government started granting white farmers with loan money/ aid with low interest rates which weaken the black farmers on their farms. The farms of white farmers started to be improved with the new machinery that they bought with the loan money from the government. ( Lagassick 1995:43)The response and the interpretation There was different interpretation amongst South African people about the Natives Land Act of 1913, there were others who saw the Land Act as pure evil threat that was going to steal land from black people. The chiefs and other group members supported the Natives Land Act of the 1913. According to my understanding a person cannot support getting a small portion of land, about 93% of land were awarded to white people and only 7% was awarded to black people which the majority in the country. The likes of Solomon Plaatje saw the Natives Land Act as the pure evil threat implementation from white people to steal the land from black people.
Those who supported the idea of the Natives Land Act clearly, they did not think about the future of black people in the country. (Harvey 2009:43)African criticize the Land Act Bill by the news paper and that was followed by the protest meeting that was organised bin various parts of the country. The South African Native National Congress organised the first major protest meeting against the Natives Land Act in 9 May at the Masonic Hall in St.
James in Cape Town. After the Land Act was passed in 25 July 1913, the South African Native National Congress held a conference at Johannesburg to address the organisation about sending the delegation to Britain to appeal to British chief about the Natives Land Act. The South African Native National Congress was told by the chief not to appeal against the Land Act by the government, but SANNC resisted and continuous the appeal. The South African Native National Congress met in 14 February to choose again the delegation who will go to London to appeal against the Land Act, the likes of John L Dube, Dr Walter Rabusana, Saul Msana, Thomas Mapikela, and Solomon Plaatje were among those who were chosen. The left to London with the petition that was going to be issued to the king in London, they first met with the missionaries when they arrived in London and other members of the society of the Aborigines.
Mr Harcout told them to take their matter to the parliament, and they did not intervene in the Land Act as the British government. ( Masing 1996:1) ConclusionFrom the reference above it clearly shows that white people did not only want the racial segregation between black people and white people, but to make black people suffer in their own country. The formed different types of commission that will ensure that black people are being pushed out of their own land to become the servants of the white people.
They were not moving freely in their own country and, they did not have the right to vote. The commission made sure that land remained on the hands of white people to reinforce their wealth, they were given aid to buy machinery to start their own business. Black people lost their livelihood, land and their livestock to the white people.
