From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: SOUTH AFRICA: DROUGHT STIRS CONLICT
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 22:19:16 GMT

Area: Middle East
Reference: Africa, southern
Title: SOUTH AFRICA: DROUGHT STIRS CONLICT IN RURAL AREAS


an inter press service feature

by eddie koch

johannesburg, aug 28 (ips) -- the worst drought in south africa
this century is stirring up a number of rural conflicts between
conservationists and peasant farmers desperate to use game
reserves for grazing land.

the extent of the land struggles was brought home recently
when workers at a nature reserve in the transkei ''ho

meland''
staged a dramatic show of resistance by kidnapping their white
bosses and locking them up in a chalet for the night.

conflict at the mkambati reserve, located on the transkei's
beautiful indian ocean coastline, began when 1,000 residents
from a nearby village occupied the reserve to back demands for
their cattle to graze alongside the animals.

claiming they had lost land when the park expanded, the
villagers also wanted revenue from the reserve to be used for
extra community services in their village.

the protesters built barricades at the reserve's entrance,
lit fires in the veld, and broke into the stores to steal food
and alcohol. the 150-strong workforce then joined in the fray
and locked up the white staff to back their demands for a wage
hike.

the protests are the latest in a series of conflicts that
have erupted around game reserves as the poverty and hardship
caused by the drought intensify social tensions in many rural
areas.

residents of matsulu, a sprawling township in another
''homeland'', kangwane, earlier this year had pitched battles
with game rangers after going into the park to poach animals and
collect fuelwood.

''people feel in hard times like this the land must be given
back to the people'', says lawrence mooi, a matsulu civic
leader. ''when people are starving it is not right to worry
about the welfare of wild animals''.

people from the village of matafin, near one of the entrances
to south africa's prestigious kruger national park, have
expressed similar sentiments.

two years ago the kangwane parks corporation (kpc) built a
game fence around a beautiful piece of ''tribal'' land in
matafin after the area's chief called the kpc and said he wanted
a nature reserve for his people. (more/ips)


south africa: drought (2)

''we were very excited because it hasn't been easy to
persuade rural people about the advantages of game reserves'',
says senior ranger arrie van wyk.

''but the next thing (we knew) were mass meetings in the
village and the people were telling us that unless we took down
the fence, our game rangers' tents would be burnt down''.

matafin is located in one of the poorest and most congested
''homeland'' districts of kangwane -- and the cause of the
discontent soon became apparent.

''the chief has sold our land to you'', says a letter from
the matafin community to the conservationists. ''yet it is the
only place where we can plough''.

at hluvukani -- a large settlement near a game reserve in
gazankulu ''homeland'' -- pamphlets on shop windows urge people
to stage a protest march against the game rangers' harsh
treatment to persons who breach hunting and fishing regulations
in the park.

unlike unrest in the urban areas, most of the protests have
gone unnoticed by the media. but even a scanty survey shows
nature conservation is becoming a major source of conflict in
many rural areas.

the protests are symptoms of a silent struggle taking place
in the countryside as peasant farmers, their grazing land
devastated by the worst drought this century, look with
resentment at the grass growing on the other side of the game
fences separating them from their ancestral land.

the national parks board, which manages kruger park, is
alarmed by reports that people living next to the reserve in
gazankulu have begun talking about pulling down the fence and
sending their cattle into the reserve.

''we are really worried that the drought is forcing people
to take militant action'', says a conservationist who asked not
to be named.

to counter the problem of local resentment, some conservation
agencies are introducing innovative measures.

in kangwane, for example, conservationists have started a
pilot scheme in the komati district which allows cattle farmers
from a nearby village to graze their cattle ''in a sustainable
way'' in one of their small reserves.

''we've agreed with the farmers that only cows, female
calves and a limited number of bulls are allowed to graze in the
conservation area'', says kpc director jeremy anderson.
(end/ips/ek/apc/ar/oa/92)



-- 
Mr. Aaron Barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us -- posting from Evanston, Illinois