The untold stories of women farmer's experiences with special reference to their socio-economic conditions: A case of Nwanedi Farms in the Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa, 1994-2013

Abstract

The demise of apartheid in 1994 raised the hopes of many South Africans who, for a long time, had been dreaming of a non-racial and non-sexist South Africa in which everybody is guaranteed equal opportunities. This was further emphasised by Sections 9 and 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), which advocate equality before the law and freedom from discrimination, together with the right to human dignity respectively. Although the Constitution seems to have managed to protect every individual South African, one wonders whether what is enshrined in the Constitution is practical at grassroots level too. The untold stories of women farmers’ experiences provide an opportunity for us to scrutinise the feelings of those previously marginalised groups of people in South Africa, particularly, women in the context of South Africa’s new political dispensation and attendant Constitution. The focus is on women who owned farms in the Nwanedi area, with an aim of giving them a platform to play a meaningful role in the making of their own history. Women have been historically disadvantaged because of patriarchy. Historical accounts are loaded with stories that glorify patriarchy, thereby rendering women passive participants in the making of their history. Matters pertaining to land tenure rights were designed in such a way that women, under both Roman-Dutch Law and Customary Law, could not own land. By employing feminist theories that indict patriarchy for being responsible for women’s oppression and by accepting that women’s agency had been overlooked but not diminished, people will respect women’s dignity and defend their capacity to emancipate themselves. To make this possible, a qualitative research method was employed to collect data for the study. The study gave this group of women farmers an opportunity to express their views about how they felt as women farmers, and of the challenges and obstacles impeding their way to becoming successful commercial farmers. Eventually, suggestions are made relating to how policy, research and developmental interventions can be made, to match the developmental needs of women farmers in the Nwanedi area, with the aim of enhancing their economic welfare.