Landscapes of dispossession : farm dwellers' experiences of relocation in the context of private game farming.

Abstract

This thesis explores the material and non-material impacts of private game farming for a group of farm dwellers in KwaZulu-Natal. The thesis is located within the context of an increasing trend whereby farm dwellers are being relocated in order to provide farm owners with the economic opportunity that commercial game farming entails. The thesis emphasises the marginalised position of the farm dwellers and points to the fact that the farm dwellers themselves often have little control and knowledge regarding their legal rights. It further emphasises the lack of protection that this group receives from the authorities. Even though legislation has been implemented to address tenure insecurity, in reality this legislation has made little difference to the lives of farm dwellers. The thesis concludes that as a direct consequence of the relocation the farm dwellers were affected materially, but perhaps more important were their ‘invisible’ non-material losses. Their non-material losses include loss of self-esteem, increased social marginalisation and the cutting of their ties to their ancestral land.