Microsoft Word - PhD Thesis Final.pdf - University of Limpopo ...

Commissioner for Native Affairs in trust for owners; private land which
was mostly owned by large companies; and land which was owned by
Blacks but held in trust by missionaries 393 .
When the South African Native Affairs Commission reported in 1905, it
came out firmly in support of the principle of racial segregation, especially
with regard to land occupation and ownership 394 . As already alluded to,
the end of the South African War saw the expectations and aspirations of
Blacks on land matters completely dashed. The war had made land more
accessible to most Blacks, but in the following years this accessibility
rapidly diminished as the White state intervened mostly to assist in the
commercialisation of White farming. After the war, the Boers in former
republics were given legal rights to lands and military assistance to
reoccupy their farms.
White landowners then realised that the best return could be obtained by
renting land to Black tenants. Alternatively, sharecropping became a
common practice in which White farmers welcomed Black families with
stock and equipment that could plough and share his crop with the
farmer. Black tenants and sharecroppers were soon under pressure as
393 Report by the South African Native Affairs Commission, p. 15.
394 Ibid, p. 15.
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