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29 March 2018 Photo Rulanzen Martin
UWC environmental researchers unpack land restitution
Mr Lindokuhle Khumalo with Dr Stephanie Cawood, CGAS Acting Director, and Prof Shirley Brooks.
The Centre for Gender and Africa Studies (CGAS) recently hosted Prof Shirley Brooks and Mr Lindokuhle Khumalo from the Department of Geography, Environmental Studies and Tourism at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), as part their seminar series. 

The subject of the talk was Environmental justice and Land Reform: Unpacking power and privilege in the context of KwaZulu-Natal’s Biodiversity Stewardship Programme. The seminar was held on the Bloemfontein Campus on 22 March 2018.

Research focus on land restitution 
Discussion on land reform is often isolated from questions about environmental justice. In addition, “Environmental justice debates have tended to focus on questions of environmental quality, especially in urban areas, such as the location of toxic waste sites near poor communities.” Their work attempts to bring these two areas of interest together.

Their work focuses on land restitution. This is the process which follows after a successful land claim. “In the case we presented, the state purchased a private game reserve, and in terms of the settlement, the land beneficiaries became the new land owners. Ownership is now vested in the community trust.” However, in terms of the settlement, a management company runs the reserve. In effect, the former land owners continue to run the operations of the company as a private game reserve. “Our work raises questions about the environmental justice of this agreement,” Mr Khumalo said. 

It is also a sad reality that many members of the beneficiary community have never set foot on the reserve; it is therefore difficult to establish how this outcome achieves true environmental justice.

What is the Biodiversity Stewardship Programme?
“The Biodiversity Stewardship Programme (BSP) is an approach to extend biodiversity conservation beyond formal protected areas such as national or provincial parks,” Prof Brooks said. It is achieved by entering into legal agreements between private and communal landowners. In KwaZulu-Natal, the programme is led and facilitated by the provincial conservation authorities; it is also supported by environmental NGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund and the Wildlands Trust. 

News Archive

RC members of Armentum not expelled from residence
2009-05-29

According to a memorandum of agreement that was concluded between the University of the Free State (UFS) and the Residence Committee (RC), the Senior Bond Committee and seniors of the Armentum Residence, the parties involved agreed, among others, that the RC members of this residence would not be expelled from the residence.

This follows an incident during which a first-year student from Armentum, Alex Marais, was injured because of alleged initiation and admitted to the Bloemfontein Medi-Clinic.

According to the agreement, the RC members will resign from their positions and not make themselves available for the next RC election, with the exception of Mr M.J. Pretorius, the RC member for Rag. He will stay on as unelected member of the interim RC. The UFS undertook to pay the RC that is stepping down their honorariums honorariums in August.

The UFS also gave permission to the Residence Head of Armentum, Adv. Bradley Smith, to appoint an interim RC for the remaining period of office of the current RC.

The Senior Bond must also undertake to submit the current rules of the Senior Bond Committee to the Acting Rector, Prof. Teuns Verschoor, before 1 June 2009. The Senior Bond Committee undertakes to comply strictly with these rules, also during Senior Bond activities.

In addition the Senior Bond Committee and the current Residence Committee must submit the following information to Prof. Verschoor before the reopening of the UFS for the second semester :
- The current orientation practices with regard to first-year students.
- Proposals on how the practices can be adjusted to render them enforceable within humane, reasonable, fair and humanitarian limits in order to implement and comply with the objectives of orientation, the exercising of control and the laying down of rules.

The compensating fine that was levied against the tuition fees accounts of senior students of Armentum, which would have been used to contribute to the medical costs of Alex Marais, is now cancelled.

This settlement is final and the parties will not lay any claims against each other as a result of this incident in future.

Media Release:
Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
Email: radebemt.stg@ufs.ac.za
29 May 2009

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