Without our land our Ubuntu dies: On the question of land redistribution and education in Zimbabwe and South Africa

• In Event: From education in emergencies to peace education: Towards a pedagogy of peace

Abstract

One of the cornerstones of colonialism was the forced removals of Blacks from lands coveted by European settlers. At the end of the 19th century and early part of the twentieth century, this was done through laws passed by the various settler governments and backed by the state police and army. As Africans were being forcibly dispossessed of their land, their education and culture were being systematically erased in the name of progress and civilization. My paper focuses on the issue land reform and resource redistribution in Southern Africa, and the role of effective education and political leadership in economic development. I also examine the role played by culture (Ubuntu) and its contributions to the creation of a world in which all have a right and a means to rightful living. Conservative estimates place the percentage of arable land seized by whites during colonialism at over seventy-five per cent (75%) in both Zimbabwe and South Africa. With regard to South Africa, that percentage has not changed significantly in the years following political independence, while Zimbabwe risked economic sanctions from the West for implementing land reforms. Even while operating under the pressure of economic sanctions from the West, Zimbabwe continues to have the highest literacy rates in Africa. I argue that in the short and long run, effective education in Africa will have to address the issue of land ownership (and the ownership of natural resources) and be guided by institutions rooted in African worldview while being guided by African philosophies. Using a historical/documentary analysis, I shed light on the broken treaties between the British and the Zimbabweans which led to the current debacle, while highlighting the initial peaceful means utilized by the Zimbabwean government for the willing buyer/willing seller agreement. Of significance too, is that while at the time of independence (1980), the literacy rate for Africans was 22% as compared with 100% for whites, by 2010, the literacy rate was close to 90% for the whole population. Government investment and expenditure on the education of children was no longer based on race. The presence of economic sanctions often works to hinder the effectiveness of the reforms in the fields of education and natural resources in Zimbabwe, while making it harder for many South Africans to implement the economic and material sprit of Ubuntu. Among the issues I address include the role of Ubuntu in education, economic justice, and peace and reconciliation. Within the field of comparative and international education, my paper focuses on the value of African culture and philosophy with regard to the purposes of education, an education that also responds to African realities.

Author

• Mark Malisa, The College of Saint Rose