From: mokaba@binah.cc.brandeis.edu
Subject: Re: >>Theft of land
Reply-To: mokaba@binah.cc.brandeis.edu
Organization: Brandeis University
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 14:32:35 GMT

Could someone enlighten us on the cost incured by african who moved from
their town home in the late fifties and sixties to create buffer zone
for white areas. Sophiatown, New-Pietersburg, the old town of Pretoria
and other similar part of the town which were destroyed or their houses
resettled by other races. How much would or do some of those houses cost
today... what about the cost incurred by living miles away from the cbd
transportation, lack of communication services, water etc.  The 
opportunity cost of being prevented by law from investing in prime land
areas... 
Think of it while in old New Pietersburg an African could walk to the
city center of dear old Polokwane (Pietersburg in Sotho) it cost over
50c in the seventies R2 by taxi and now its over R5... what about the 
productive time lost by people individually and in group travelling
two hours to and from work.  Allow 
(oops!)  In dear old new Pietersburg andin Leroxville it took ten minutes
to walk to the CBD by your staff and have the rest of your day to do other
productive work-- read a good book, study for part time study,,,establish
a business.... in the new tow of seshego situated 20 km from the town
you needed time (actually th wole day... money for the bus. and time to re
cuperate... could someone do the computation of estimating both time and 
productivity lost... what about the cost to businessmen running shop away
from the center of the game..., please compute the estimated cost to the
cosumer... 

The problem of land is much larger than we think... 
I encourage readers, particularly non-african South African to think
about the non-pecuniary benefits they have had from being born and bred
by parent who had to content with the general struggle of surving in 
a "free economy"... 
let me (for the sake of evoking three and four letter words) use Dr Gavan
as my idea whte South African born in the late fifties or was it the 
early sixties... well say he was born African infact a Mo-Venda to be 
exact... that would have meant that baby Gavan would have had less 
health services that he did no matter how littel he had (in fact his 
survival chances as an infant could have been sowhere in the 60 to seventy
percent... there would be no government funded preschool for him and no
nany to help organize his life.. Little Gavan's mom would leave him soon
to find employment as a Nanny in town some 40 miles aways...(which she 
considered it luck because his father was a mine contractor comming home
only once in two years. (He had not seen his son yet and Gavan is 18 months
because last year he decided to take "chechaboya bonus"- quick return from
vacation bonus at the mines..) well as soon as Gavan was six years old 
his uncle took to a nearby primary school headed by a pricipal with a
standard six certificate .. The school is a work of art indeed... the floor
are dusty.. the windows are not broken noo! they were never installed as
the was no money to do so.. By the way this is a school built by the community
without government contribution...(some version of private school).. 
Hungry at break little gavan had no luches but had to run some three
miles to his home to eat a piece of Pap left over yesterday.. no milk at 
school this time... 
At school the world was confusing .. first, ether by comon practice or some
unwrtten law you Gavan was given an African name.."because in school we use
african and not christian names" his name .. a colicate series of click was
both long and difficult for him to remember... he was called Qaqambisa
G. Tredoux! this was not his parents falt... by third week in school
Gavan was leaning Afrikaans kindergarten songs...English vocabulary
Venda consonant and vowels and some arithmatic... oops by third year
in school.... he learnt to count from one to thousand in all three
languages and learnt to add in Venda (arithmatic).. by std three
at least 40% of kid he started school with had dropped out or went
to the farms to havest... or parent had no money for school fees.
well... lets continue this in the next posting....