LAND

Land in the African context is much more than real estate.  When asked to describe the meaning of “land”, leaders of Sisonke Masilwe Indlala (“Together Let Us Fight Hunger”) replied: land is food, water, security, identity, dignity; land is life.  To be deprived of land is to be deprived of all these things.  That is why SMI has chosen land justice as their primary focus in the fight against hunger in South Africa.

Sisonke Masilwe Indlala

One major cause of poverty and hunger in South Africa is the lack of access to arable land for most of the population.  In the wake of colonialism and apartheid, the vast majority of fertile land remains in the hands of a few, mostly white farm owners.

Members of Sisonke Masilwe Indlala (SMI) are therefore attacking land injustice in South Africa through:

• organizing communities to press for more equitable distribution of available land
• advocating on behalf of farm workers threatened by eviction from their homes on farms
• training in locally appropriate farming and gardening techniques
• voicing the needs of the poor in policy making decisions regarding the use of land.

Ken Jones and Susanne Carter are currently in South Africa on behalf of the Western Reserve Presbytery and sent the following report:

"In January 2007, in the village of Bholothwa near Queenstown in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, the Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown handed over 100 hectares of previously church-owned land to 24 families in the area.  The event was a great celebration involving the bishop and other clergy along with the staff of the Diocese's Department for Social Responsibility (DSR), representatives of various government departments, and most of all the villagers in traditional garb, some dancing, some singing, some on horses.   This memorable day was neither the beginning, nor the end of this land transaction. 

Under the leadership of DSR, eight years of hard and at times frustrating work lay behind the Siyazama ("we are trying") group.  Each of them has been involved in various forms of training (from agriculture to business management to conflict resolution); together they have developed rules and regulations for their association; they have set up fencing and made plans for what equipment they would need to purchase with the government funds available for projects like this one; they have harvested a huge test crop of potatoes.  Before the actual farming can begin, a previously used borehole has to be re-activated for the irrigation of the land.  More patience will be needed, more persistence, more hope put into action. But so much has already been accomplished.  DSR is committed to continue to walk with the farmers of Bholothwa well beyond the significant mile stone of the actual land transfer.

One of the other SMI members has become an advisers to the farming project.  Welile Sigabi from the Mooiplaas Centre for Sustainable Development, also situated in the Eastern Cape, has provided Siyazama with training in perma-culture, organic farming without the use of resources from the outside of the community. "

Western Reserve Presbytery

Presbyterians in the Western Reserve have been relating to South Africa through mission trips and exchange visits since 1992.  Most recently, in April 2006, a delegation from PWR traveled to South Africa.  They were welcomed by Susanne Carter and Ken Jones, then serving in South Africa as mission co-workers of the PC(USA) under the Joining Hands Against Hunger program.

This delegation met with leaders of organizations belonging to the SMI network and experienced both the depth of human suffering caused by systemic poverty and by the AIDS pandemic, as well as some of the courageous efforts to improve the lives of the most disadvantaged.

Upon their return, the South Africa travelers convinced the SAMP group that person – to – person encounters between representatives of SMI and Christians in NE Ohio would be mutually beneficial. The SMI leadership team has selected three members to share their experiences and to learn about issues of land and justice in the US.

In order to continue to learn about each other’s context and to further accompany one another in searching for justice and wholeness in both countries, a new group from Cleveland will visit South Africa from March 24 to April 9, 2008.

SAMP is glad to welcome three SMI leaders to the Presbytery of the Western Reserve. We invite you to meet them while they are among us, September 28 through October 12, 2007.

	Mrs. Mati Mathabatha   comes from a Pedi speaking village in the northern province of Limpopo and is active with the Landless People’s Movement.      O amogetšwe, Mati!
Rev. Saaiman Christopher lives in the Western Cape town of Pacaltsdorp, where he serves a large UCC congregation.  His mother tongue is Afrikaans.    Welkom, Dominee!
	Rev. Welile Sigabi   is a Methodist pastor and perma-culture expert from the Xhosa speaking Eastern Cape province.     Wamkelekile, Umfundisi!

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