Zambia, to the northwest, is an odd combination of Botswana’s solutions and Zimbabwe’s legacy. Zambia was fortunate to escape the extreme inequity of land distribution that occurred in Zimbabwe under Ian Smith’s “government”. Under the relatively benign administration of Rhodes’ BSAC (British South Africa Company), few large-scale white farms were created. At independence, “State land and freehold7 land [was] 6.3 per cent [of the total land area]” (Banda), and white colonial interests were mostly limited to copper mining. Zambia, has however, faced a problem which is becoming increasingly common, especially in South Africa and Mozambique – massive land speculation:
“Since independence, but before 1975, the prices of land escalated beyond the reach of ordinary citizens. The problem of escalation of prices of land has bedeviled many countries. In Zambia, the problem reached a climax in 1975, when the president discovered that an estate agent made a profit of K50,0008 overnight for a piece of land of less than a quarter of an acre. this caused an outcry from the public. To solve the problem of speculation in land, the Land (Conversion of Titles) Act, 1975 (Act 209) was passed. The effect of the act is that no dealings in land can take place without the consent of the president, and land has no value except for unexhausted improvements thereon” (Banda).
Zambia thus encapsulates two issues which are absolutely relevant to the larger discussion of land policy in Southern Africa today – massive, uncontrolled speculation, and the notion of the sole value of land being that of the “unexhausted improvements thereon” (Banda).
Speculation is a problem for indigenous people. In South Africa, beachfront real estate, once a plentiful commodity, has become unaffordable for local South Africans. Title to vast portions of Cape Province’s beachfront is now held by foreigners, especially Americans. Recognizing the economic realities of the strength of the dollar against the Rand, South African real estate brokers are marketing South African real estate to foreign buyers. This is a tricky business. Are they giving away the country? At what point does foreign “investment” become foreign economic manipulation?
Footnotes:
- There is no evidence to suggest that white farms were held in anything other than freehold.
- Zambian Kwacha
|
Related documents