The political and socio-economic condition of the people who were removed from Mandlanzini and their return to Richards Bay after 1994

Abstract

From 1960 to 1983, the apartheid government forcibly removed more than 3.5 million South Africans from their traditional areas of domicile to different areas. Such removals were for different reasons such as clearance of ‘black sport’, relocation as per Influx Control Legislation, urban relocation, relocation for Betterment Schemes, and relocation for Homeland Consolidation. Black communities were in the majority of cases the main victims of such removals. In spite of the pervasiveness of such removals, very little is written on the impact or effect to the victims. The main objective for this paper is to present the political and socio-economic conditions of the people who were removed when Richards Bay was established. The narrative is based on qualitative research which brings out the sentiments and attitudes of the victims. Qualitative research approaches using focus group discussion, direct observations and in-depth interviews with selected members of the community. Prudently presented themes were sifted from the data that discussed the effects of forced removals to the people who were forcibly relocated from Mandlanzini. From qualitative data, it emerged that these people were not relocated for their improvement but to open up space for white settlement and to create economic enclave controlled by whites. This paper traces their history from pre-apartheid era to the democratic dispensation when some of these people returned to their traditional land.