Mandela’s Legacy on Land Revisited
New book highlights how past land theft can cripple South Africa's economic development
On Monday, August 4, more than 50 African leaders invited by President Obama will attend the historic, three-day U.S.-Africa Leader's Summit in Washington, D.C., to expand trade ties and request additional U.S. investment in security and democracy. While South Africa is the continent's economic leader, President Jacob Zuma has a ticking time bomb threatening his nation's prosperity-past land theft.
Mandela's promise to correct past land theft has thus far gone unfulfilled. When apartheid ended in 1994, 87 percent of South Africa's land was owned by whites, although they constituted less than 10 percent of the population. This year marks South Africa's 20th year of democracy, but the post-apartheid state has transferred less than 10 percent of the land from whites back to blacks.
Unsurprisingly, blacks are angry. If nothing decisive is done, there may be political and/or economic instability.
Professor Bernadette Atuahene's new book We Want What's Ours: Learning from South Africa's Land Restitution Program (Oxford University Press 2014) uses interviews with 150 South Africans to understand how the nation can build on its successes and learn from its failures in addressing past land theft. The book finds that communication, accountability and equity are vital.
The global relevance of We Want What's Ours extends beyond South Africa's borders. The lessons highlighted can help governments, policy makers, scholars and international organizations the world over to implement reparations programs.
To arrange a book event, radio interview or television interview, please contact Bernadette Atuahene at batuahene@kentlaw.edu. We Want What's Ours is available in hardback and as an e-book. For more information, or to purchase the book, visit wewantwhatsours.com.
About Professor Bernadette Atuahene
Bernadette Atuahene is a professor of law at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law and Faculty Fellow at the American Bar Foundation. She has a JD from Yale and an MPA from Harvard. Professor Atuahene has done extensive research, writing, public speaking and consulting on land issues.
