Western Civilization in Southern Africa by Isaac Schapera

Author:Isaac Schapera [Schapera, Isaac]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780415330039
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2004-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

CAUSES OF TOWNWARD DRIFT

No study of the urban native can ignore the forces that are at work not only attraing the native into town but also driving him there. It is not possible within the compass of this chapter to discuss these at any length,2 but since there are frequent discussions in Parliament and elsewhere regarding possible measures for relieving the pressure on the towns, it will be helpful if there is a sound appreciation of the faors which are mainly responsible for that pressure.

(a) Underdevelopment of the Reserves.—The Native Economic Commission has expressed and emphasized its conviion that the main cause of the migration of natives into the towns is the backward condition of the reserves. Estimates of the produion of several reserves1 show that the average grain produion per family is about half of its consumption, necessitating the purchase of food even in areas which ought to be able to support themselves. This shortage is both a cause and a result of the migration of the men to towns. Because these areas do not support their population the males have to augment the family income by cash-wages earned in the towns, and because the men are away the tillage is not as great. The proportion of the men who absent themselves from the reserves in order to augment the family income varies considerably. In the Transkei it is thought to be 50 per cent2 ; among the BaKxatla of Bechuanaland Proteorate it is estimated to be 40 per cent3 ; while in the Ciskeian Territories the tax returns indicate that it is as high as 70 per cent in some distris.

In several reserves overgrazing has resulted in severe erosion of the soil. “ How is it,” asked a herdsman of the present writer, “ how is it that these hills can no longer give pasture to my cattle ? In my father’s day they were green and cattle thrived there ; to-day there is no grass and my cattle starve.” As one looked one saw that what had once been a green hill had become raw red rock.

(b) Inadequacy of Land.—The Native Economic Commission also says that the reserves are insufficient for the native population. They represent about eight per cent of the total area of the Union, and had in 1911 a density of 52·26 natives per square mile4 as compared with the density figure of 12·63 for the Union as a whole.

In several areas of the Transkei, the Ciskei, and Natal there is a serious shortage of land for allotment, with the result that there are many landless natives to be found there. An example may be taken from the writer’s own notes of a visit to a cane area in a Natal reserve, which has been divided into individual holdings of about 13 acres each. Standing on rising ground one counted some fifty houses, each the centre of an allotment. Inquiries of one of the allotment holders showed that the average annual cash income from the cane produced on his holding is between £60 and £70.

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