23-07-2025
Land and justice under the spotlight at community dialogue
Frantz Fanon's vision of justice and reconciliation through the examination of the Expropriation Bill and the case of the Cradock Four was explored at a community dialogue on Tuesday night.
The Herald, in collaboration with Nelson Mandela University, hosted the dialogue at the South End Museum.
Organised by the Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy (Canrad), the event was facilitated by Katlego Mofokeng and had four legal experts, activists and academics, each bringing a different perspective to the floor.
The panellists discussed issues around land injustice, historical accountability, and the legacy of colonialism in democratic SA.
Qhawe Mbongwe, PhD candidate at NMU who analysed the role of the TRC in post-apartheid SA, said the commission failed because it did not provide more than a one-dimensional view of apartheid.
'The TRC succeeded in advocating for a narrow interpretation of the effects of apartheid, and by doing so, it acknowledged only the violations that were suffered by political activists or agents of the state.
'It effectively ignored the effects apartheid had on the broad masses of the South African population.
'Not only did the TRC's final report downplay apartheid — the crime against humanity — but proceeded to demonstrate limited understanding of the legal machinery through which this crime was perpetuated under the disguise of the rule of law.
'Furthermore, the TRC's definition of human rights violations was narrow and restricted.
'Apartheid, as a system of oppression, did not target the bodily integrity of a population group defined as Bantu, but their means of livelihood, land and labour. It did not oppress or violate people individually, but collectively.
'We have seen how the works of Frantz Fanon continue to shape historical epochs in the Third World.
'All over the colonial world, Fanon remains a symbol of resistance, justice and decolonisation,' he said.
Sibusiso Thwala, specialist and director of NexGen Leadership Solutions, highlighted the issues around settlers in SA and colonialism.
'Land is not merely about hectares or title deeds. In SA, land holds memory, identity, dignity and economy. It is our connection to history, to each other, and to ourselves.
'Frantz Fanon reminds us: 'For a colonised people, the most essential value, because it is the most concrete, is first and foremost the land: the land which will bring them bread and, above all, dignity.'
'Colonialism didn't just steal land, it reshaped identities, distorted truths, and dictated whose life mattered. So Fanon's idea of revolutionary justice is not simply retribution, it is reconstruction.
'It demands that we ask: Who owns? Who decides? Who heals? Who benefits? Without changing these foundations, the oppressed remain colonised under a different flag,' he said.
The last speaker of the evening, Zandi Radebe, shared some insight on the struggle songs used during apartheid, and through the use of amagwijo (liberation songs), she explained how these traditions reflect different ideological approaches to land, memory and justice.
'I chose amagwijo because I want to speak to how ordinary community members, mainly the rank and file, what some people call the masses of the movement, thought about the liberation struggle, and most importantly, how they felt.
'Amagwijo allows us to access the structure of feelings among the people in whose names the liberation was fought,' Radebe said.
The Herald
