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| Title: | Chiefs, commoners and the land: struggles over control and access to land in colonial Lesotho |
| Author: | Rugege, Sam |
| Year: | 1992 |
| Periodical: | Lesotho Law Journal: A Journal of Law and Development (ISSN 0255-6472) |
| Volume: | 8 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Pages: | 33-64 |
| Language: | English |
| Notes: | biblio. refs. |
| Geographic terms: | Lesotho Southern Africa Great Britain |
| Subjects: | colonialism customary law land law History, Archaeology land tenure history social classes |
| Abstract: | The power of the chiefs in Lesotho was, until the early 1980s, closely related to their control over access to land by people under their jurisdiction. Chiefs had the power to grant or revoke the right to use land and the privilege of having their fields tilled by their subjects under the 'matsema' or tribute labour system. The concept of 'traditional' or 'communal' tenure was utilized as part of the dominant ideology of the traditional governing class of chiefs, which held that the system of land use and control was part of the Sotho culture and therefore should not be tampered with. With the increasing political consciousness of the commoners, however, especially the educated petty bourgeoisie, such as teachers and civil servants in the colonial administration, and petty traders, the questions of access to land and its administration became important political issues and a focus of struggle between the chieftaincy and the commoners, represented mainly by the Basutoland Progressive Association and the Lekhotla la Bafo. The present article examines instances of these struggles, touching on issues of the nature of landholding, exploitative power relations and demands for participation in the control of land. It also discusses colonial attempts at reform. The forces that moulded the nature and pace of the struggle for change in the control of land and the land tenure regime are identified. Notes, ref. |