South Africa

Sisonke Masilwe Indlala Network

A new “Joining Hands” effort in South Africa was initiated in January 2006 as representatives of six organizations from several regions of the country, each concerned with achieving land justice in the South African context, came together to form Sisonke Masilwe Indlala (SIM) (“Together Let Us Fight Hunger” in Xhosa).

As their initial Statement of Purpose, Sisonke Masilwe Indlala has adopted the following:

“We are a network of churches, organizations and movements working together to fight hunger by mobilizing for sustainable holistic human settlements, primarily in rural areas of South Africa. 

We share experiences and insights in search of locally appropriate alternative models that empower poor people.”

As a result of the legacies of centuries of colonialism and then decades of apartheid, the vast majority of people have been deprived of access to or ownership of arable land. This landlessness is a major root cause of hunger and poverty in the country and, for now, is the sole focus of the network. 

Early in its formation stage, the core group held an extended discussion on the question, “What is land?” From the collective wisdom of five languages and cultures, the following connections emerged: land provides food, water, security, life, dignity, gift and identity. Imagine being deprived of all these things and you get a sense of what it means to be landless in South Africa today and the impact that has on the lives of these marginalized people. In a spiritual sense, land use is a matter of justice as well. Issues relating to land vary as reflected in the network’s current membership. These include such areas as the displacement of peoples from lands, evictions of farm laborers and their families, the structure and process of government land reform, the Church and land transfers in partnership with local communities, the economic empowerment of rural women and the use of land through agricultural methods. Land justice is reflected in all these areas. 

Current members of the core leadership team:

The Rev. Christopher Saaiman works at the Congregational Church in Pacaltsdorp, Southern Cape, where many parishioners are descendants of the aboriginal Outeniqua San people. Ancestral land in the region is being earmarked for golf courses and luxury estates, displacing modest homes and farms.

The Rev. Philemon Talane is a pastor with the Church of the Nazarene and a staff member of the Nkuzi Development Association in far-north Limpopo Province, where the eviction of Sotho-speaking workers and families from farms have left many homeless.

Mati Mathabatha is also from Limpopo and comes from the Landless Peoples’ Movement, a grass roots effort to force the ANC government to speed up the process of land reform.

The Rev. Welile Sigabi is a Methodist pastor and experienced trainer in methods of permaculture (permanent agriculture) for rural Xhosa villages in the Eastern Cape Province.

Ray Magida works in the Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown (Eastern Cape), where he leads efforts to transfer unused land owned by churches into the hands of impoverished local communities.

Angela Conway is an advocate for the economic empowerment of rural women through the Southern Cape Land Committee.