Conflict and co-operation : gender and development in a rural settlement of Sekhukhuneland, Northern Province

M.A.This mini-dissertation concerns research which was done in a rural settlement of Sekhukhuneland, Northern Province, and is organised around three broad themes of analysis. The first involves the impact of development and political change upon the residents of Sekhukhuneland and will provide a wider context of understanding for the specifics of local gendered interaction. This involves an investigation of the impact of separate development in former bantustan states such as Lebowa, which gained a very different expression in Sekhukhuneland from that in other bantustan states in South Africa. Specifically, the high incidence of migrant labour contributed to an intense resistance to apartheid, so that most settlements in the area remained largely unaffected by the spatial resettlement of residential areas. Systems of local political expression, however, were very much affected by separate development and 'betterment'. In former bantustan states, where the power of the central government was expressed through the actions of homeland authorities, the appointment of regional magistrates appears to have gradually eroded the legitimacy of local traditional leaders. As a result of such a shift in the local power base, Sekhukhuneland presently suffers from high levels of political division and confusion. In addition, key resources are often controlled by a select elite. Current development efforts, although vastly different to their predecessors, have to cope with these divisions on a daily basis. Ignorance of these circumstances can lead to a situation where only the 'male', or more visible aspects of development are emphasised. The influence of women, especially in the domestic and agricultural arenas, can easily be ignored. The second theme concerns the different levels of 'gendered' interaction in Mashite. It will be argued that the various levels of difference and opposition that exist within the settlement of Mashite are not only limited to those relationships between men (who hold visible political authority) and women - but can be extended to those 'hidden' power struggles between women themselves. Since high levels of unemployment have forced a marked decline in male migrant labour and caused a male 'crisis' of identity, the actions of women increase access to local resources such as agricultural land, especially from within the domestic sphere. The domestic arena has been isolated as one of the most important localities of gendered interaction and female control and is reflected in the high number of matrifocal (or 'female-headed') households, and the power that single elderly women wield over the younger generation of unemployed males