Archie Mafeje Memorial Lecture - Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa - HSRC Seminar

Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) seminars

HSRC Seminar: Archie Mafeje Memorial Lecture - Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa: Lessons from Other Parts of the Continet 4 September 2020 Online seminar Overview: The Mafeje Memorial Lecture provides a platform to highlight Prof Mafeje’s contribution to our understanding of the Agrarian question, discuss current debates on the land question and to learn from the experiences of other African countries. In Africa most subsistence farmers in communal areas have been facing challenges relating to infertile arable land thereby predisposing themselves to food insecurity and poverty. Land restitution exercises, such as the Fast Track Land Reform Programme undertaken in Zimbabwe, has led to the distribution of land to previously marginalised black majority, however, the exercise also resulted in a plethora of socio-economic and political problems. Land tenure rights for women have been an issue since the colonial themes. Women still own less land, whether solely or jointly, than men. It is important to have a narrattive that addresses the plight of women in South Africa and other African countries emanating from this Archie Mafeje Memorial Lecture. PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Thokozani Simelane, Research Director, AISA-HSRC WELCOME REMARKS Prof Jimi Adesina, DST/NRF SARChI Chair in Social Policy, College of Graduate Studies, UNISA Dr Godwin Murunga, Executive Secretary, CODESRIA INPUTS FROM THE MAFEJE FAMILY Ms Dana Mafeje, Daughter of Prof Mafeje Mr Sandile Swana, Family Representative PANEL 1: ARCHIE MAFEJE’S SCHOLARLY CONTRIBUTIONS Prof Lungisile Ntsebeza, National Research Foundation (NRF) Research Chair in Land Reform and Democracy in South Africa AC Jordan Chair in African Studies at the University of Cape Town Archie Mafeje: the making of an engaged scholar and insights of his work for current debates on land reform Dr Bongani Nyoka, Research Fellow, Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education/Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study, University of Johannesburg The lifetime and work of Archie Mafeje KEY FINDINGS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ADVISORY PANEL ON LAND REFORM AND AGRICULTURE Dr Vuyo Mahlati, Chairperson of the Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and President of the African Farmers Association of South Africa PANEL 2: LAND AND AGRARIAN REFORM IN AFRICA Hon Dr Mathole Motshekga, MP (Chair: Ad hoc committee on the alignment of Sec 25 of the constitution) Parliament of the Republic of South Africa Constitutional options on land ownership in a democratic South Africa Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi Key issues emerging from the land and agrarian question in South Africa, what is missing and constitutionally permissible Prof Patricia McFadden, African Feminist Activist and Scholar (Swaziland) Gendered Access to Land In Southern Africa Advocate Rachel Shibalira Women’s Land Rights in Africa: Progress and Stagnation Dr Walter Chambati, Executive Director, Sam Moyo African Institute for Agrarian Studies, Zimbabwe Land Reform in Zimbabwe: Lessons for South Africa Dr Blessing Masamha, Post Doctoral Fellow, AISA The intersection between Land Reform and Food Security CLOSING REMARKS Prof Cheryl Hendricks, Executive Head, Africa Institute of South Africa, HSRC For more information: http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/events/events/memorial-lecture-archie-mafeje