Sequel to Long Walk to Freedom - Revision 1 - Chapter 11 Page 1

The Land The plundering of indigenous land, exploitation of its mineral wealth and other raw materials, confinement of its people to specific areas, and the restriction of their movement have, with notable exceptions, been the corner- stone of Colonialism throughout the land. This was the form British Colonialism took in South Africa, so much so, that after the passing of the Land Act of 1913 by the South African government a white minority of barely 15 percent of the country’s population owned about 87 percent of the land, while the black majority – Africans, Coloureds and Indians – occupied less than 13 percent. They were forced to live in squalor and poverty or to see employment on white farms, in the mines and urban areas. When their Nationalist Party came to power in 1948 Afrikaners acted with unbelievable cruelty and sought to rob blacks even of these meagre rights to land they still possessed. Communities large and small, who had occupied areas from time immemorial, where their ancestors and beloved ones were buried, were mercilessly uprooted and thrown into the open veld, there to find themselves. And this was done by a white community led by an educated but infamous clergy and his successors who used their skills and religion to commit various atrocities against the black majority which God forbade. Yet they hypocritically claimed that their evil schemes were inspired by God. (Quote Sol Plaatjie on The Land Act of 1913) It was against this background that the African National Congress