Diversity behind constructed unity: the resettlement process of the !Xun and Khwe communities in South Africa

Abstract

The identity politics in the land distribution arrangement of the !Xun and Khwe were heavily dependent on the notion of one commonly shared community identity. However, this politically constructed identity does not match differences experienced on the ground. The !Xun and Khwe were resettled in 2004, moving from their ‘temporary’ settlement at an army base to a township near Kimberley. To date, they do not seem to resemble a coherent community pursuing the goal of ‘cooperative production’, deemed so important by land reform policies. This paper argues that forced togetherness of the past, collective identities ascribed by others and actively taken up by the !Xun and Khwe, and the socio-political context at the time of resettlement negotiations informed the delineation of community boundaries that preferred constructed unity over experienced diversity.

Keywords:

• identity politics
• land reform
• redistribution
• community
• San

Acknowledgements

For their comments and helpful suggestions on earlier drafts and intriguing questions the author wishes to thank the anonymous JCAS reviewers, Julie Grant, Lungisile Ntsebeza, Stasja Koot, Saskia Welschen, Harry Wels, Keyan Tomaselli and Sarah Cummings.

Notes

1. Symbols such as ‘!’ and ‘≠' are used to indicate ‘click’ sounds in pronunciation.

2. Before the official dawn of the democratic South Africa in 1994, the national government sought to redress certain wrongs of the Apartheid past and created the Advisory Commission on Land Allocation to redress land issues (Douglas 1997).

3. Interviews took place in March and April of 2012 and were done on a confidential basis, therefore, all information derived from interviews is anonymous.

4. Communication between the two groups is facilitated by translations by people who speak both languages and by using Afrikaans as a lingua franca (spoken by 43%) (Letsoalo 2010).

5. The naming of San communities is under continuous negotiation; names such as ‘Bushmen’ are often said to have derogatory connotations. However, in other occasions, these names are actively taken up by San peoples. ‘San’ is often considered to be the politically ‘correct’ name, although at times also perceived as having derogatory connotations.

6. Fieldwork took place in March and April of 2012. This study is part of a Ph.D. project that is funded by the Athena Institute of the VU University, Amsterdam.

7. Brinkman (2005) is one of the rare English sources to describe events during the Angolan War of Independence through stories of refugees. It must be said that refugees and army officials are the only ones heard; the !Xun and Khwe of the Flechas unit were not heard. Portuguese sources may yield more details concerning the involvement of the !Xun and Khwe in the Portuguese army.

8. ‘Flechas’ literally translates into ‘arrows’ (Brinkman 2005) but is also translated as ‘irregulars’ and those whose members came from different places (like arrows).

9. In the end, thousands of Angolan San were killed in the periods just before and after independence (Battistoni and Taylor 2009; SASI n.d.).

10. The offensive role of the Khwe left them with no other choice than to find refuge in neighbouring countries (Sharp and Douglas 1996).

11. Incentives for joining the SADF are diverse, from economic to social benefits, at the same time fear for retribution of Angolan liberation forces could also be seen as an incentive (Battistoni and Taylor 2009).

12. ‘Bushmen’ have a long history of being put on display, see for example Gordon (1992) and Skotnes (1996).

13. A trust was formed to ‘address the needs and rights of the !Xun and the Khwe’ (SASI n.d., 24) and could also be seen to be as a response to the uncertain future due to the changes in the government of South Africa and also the transformation of the SADF into the South African National Defence Force.

14. These characteristics are visible in the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (United Nations 2007).

15. For a broader contextualisation of the history of the San or ‘Bushmen’ please refer to Gordon (1992), le Roux and White (2004), Wilmsen (1989), and Wilmsen and Denbow (1990).

16. The release of Nelson Mandela and the unbanning of liberation organisations made 1990 an important year in the preparation for democracy.

17. On its website the ANC positions this phrase as a key element in their origin, political struggle and current vision.

18. Jones and Smith (2001) use the terms ‘ascribed’ and ‘voluntary’ for sense of belonging and citizenship respectively.

19. Cousins and Claassens (2005, 35) mention, for example, the dysfunctional nature of many CPAs and community land trusts and the idea that ‘(m)embers have often retained ties to their original communities, rather than seeing themselves as belonging to the new social entity’.