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

The tensions which emanated from the buyers of the same farm were
persistent and far-reaching than those which were between the
neighbouring villages. Such tensions usually disrupted the smooth
running, development and progress in the affected farm. Non-co-
operation between the purchasers of different backgrounds was also
related to the fact that the original inhabitants of Makgabeng were
relatively not literate and non-Christian as compared to those who came
from Moletji, Botlokwa, Ga-Dikgale and Ga-Mamabolo.
The newcomers usually took advantage of their literacy and Christianity
to outmanoeuvre their illiterate, non-Christian co-purchasers. For
instance, in the jointly bought farms of Early Dawn and Millstream, the
Moletji, Botlokwa and Ga-Mphahlele buyers always ensured that the
decisions they took at tribal meetings, always favoured them. These
newcomers had settled together on the north-eastern part of the two
farms, and with their Christian and literate backgrounds, they ensured
that the schools and water pumps were constructed and erected next to
their households, i.e., on the north-eastern end of the village where they
had settled. That was done at the expense of their illiterate, non-Christian
clans of the Ngwepe, Ramoroka, Mojela and Setumu, who settled on the
south-western end of the village.
279