In pre-colonial times, the land of the Bokkeveld Plateau was home to Khoi pastoralists and San hunter-gatherers. In the mid-1700’s the land was taken from the people by force. Many became slaves and workers on the farms that were established by the settlers.
In pre-colonial times, the land of the Bokkeveld Plateau was home to Khoi pastoralists and San hunter-gatherers. In the mid-1700’s the land was taken from the people by force. Many became slaves and workers on the farms that were established by the settlers.
A few families of the descendants of the ‘first people’ later managed to get land in the driest and most infertile parts of the Bokkeveld, but under Apartheid they lived lives of hardship and poverty. After liberation in 1994 the promise of land reform gave the people hope that they could finally own enough land to make a good living from it.
Under the government of Nelson Mandela a start was made with land reform, and some families in the Bokkeveld received small grants and managed to borrow additional funds from the State bank to buy farms. High land prices in South Africa and the booming rooibos industry meant that Heiveld members could only afford to buy marginal land in the dryer areas, as very few rooibos farms are offered for sale.
In 2013 the government changed its policies and stopped helping black farmers to acquire land. Instead, government buys land and keeps control of it, leasing it to selected farmers for periods of time. Ownership of this land by the people is no longer an option. In the Bokkeveld, the government has used threats and incentives to try to force the people to abandon organic agriculture and to use poisons on their land. It is not surprising that the officials of the government are not helping the people to take control of additional land, or to expand organic rooibos production.
In the Bokkeveld, and in all of the rooibos producing areas, most of the land is owned by large-scale white farmers. Coloured farmers have access to less than 2% of rooibos production land. When land that is suitable for rooibos production in the areas that receive higher rainfall is sold, it is invariably quickly bought by wealthy white farmers and investors. The end of Apartheid has not brought the end of unjust land ownership.