Ubuntu and the quest for land reform in South Africa

Abstract

In this article, I ask the question how we can relate ubuntu to South African land reform from a practical-theological point of view. I will look at researchers’ efforts to understand ubuntu and how these efforts do and do not integrate into the conversation around land reform. Referring to land reform, I will focus on two private narratives as opposed to dominant public narratives. An in-depth discussion on legislation and research on perspectives of land ownership therefore falls outside of the ambit of this article. In conclusion, I will argue that the relationship between a landowner and his or her dispossessed coworkers can be the fertile soil which ubuntu requires to find sustainable local answers to land reform.