LAND REFORM: lack of government support at the root of community’s struggles
Maria Magagula was one of the early beneficiaries of government’s land-reform initiatives. She is the secretary of the Mswati Communal Property Association (CPA), which was registered in 1998 in Mpumalanga.
The CPA consists of 130 families who elected to use the grants they received via the Settlement and Land Acquisition Grant, a land reform programme since abandoned and replaced by a succession of new programmes, to collectively buy a 1 418ha farm about 30km from eManzana (Badplaas).
Most households in the CPA previously took part in small-scale farming within irrigation schemes established under KaNgwane, a former homeland.
STRIVING FOR GENDER BALANCE
Maria, who has served on the leadership of the CPA for 11 years, is the only woman on a nine-member managing committee. She is outspoken about the challenges that women face within land governance structures such as CPAs.
“Our CPA
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