The narrative that traditional leaders own land is a fallacy as it has been introduced by a colonial power and the apartheid government. And successive traditional leaders believed that they owned the land. It is a deeply flawed system.
Today, some traditional leaders are the oppressors of people they claim to lead. Women are treated worse by some traditional leaders and the ANC Women's League is doing nothing. It complains about patriarchy in public but support patriarchy in the state.
Traditional leaders cling to it because they benefit from the flawed system. Some traditional leaders believe that they are the custodians of the land on behalf of their communities. That is nonsense. How can communities be "baby-sitted" for their land?
This is a clear indication that this practice is foreign to us. Traditional leaders were "baby-sitted" by colonial power and apartheid government, and in turn, traditional leaders "baby-sitted" their communities.
The narrative that "chiefs" own the land is a lie planted by colonial powers and the apartheid regime as some of chiefs were appointed by the apartheid government. They even coined the term "chief".
Hence Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi is loath to be called chief because he knows the term was coined by these governments. It is unfortunate that this deeply flawed arrangement system introduced by colonial power and apartheid government has been accepted as the truth.
Of course, it is a nature for us to embrace foreign systems that distort our history. Traditional leaders are clinging to this flawed corrupt system because they benefit from it. Whatever traditional leaders do benefit themselves and their families. They blame colonial power and apartheid government for greed, but they are also greedy.
Today, millions of people, particularly in rural areas, believe the notion that traditional leaders own the land. Traditional leaders never owned the land. Each household owned a piece of land and was transferred to the next generations.
But the colonial rulers and apartheid government introduced a poisonous system to traditional leaders to believe that the land belongs to them. The most painful part is that even traditional leaders who have university education believe this poisonous system as they benefit handsomely from the land.
There are stories doing the rounds in Mpumalanga about black farmers who are about to be evicted from the farms they have been leasing as it is alleged they refuse to pay a bribe to government officials. It was also alleged the matter was brought to agriculture, land reform and rural development minister Thoko Didiza but nothing is happening.
And it would seem most black people are content with being allocated land of a size of an Uno vehicle. Black people continue to live in overcrowded areas, particularly in our townships in big cities, even in the new democratic SA.
The democratic government is continuing where the apartheid government left off. People live in crowded areas and they cannot even breathe fresh air and there is no privacy because of the closeness of the houses or shacks. Many black people have long lost hope about owning a piece of land in rural areas.
Traditional leaders are selling the land that does not belong to them. However, communities keep quiet because they believe the land belongs to them. The behavior of traditional leaders is not surprising because during the Atlantic slave trade, they contributed immensely for selling their fellow blacks to white people for a bottle of brandy or whisky and a piece of cloth as stated by Ghananian-born Prof Edward Reynolds, in his book Stand The Storm: A History of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
Traditional leaders are content of using distorted customary law as indicated by Adv Tembeka Ngcukaitobi (Sowetan April 23). Most of our current traditional leaders are corrupt like a colonial power and apartheid government as they sign secret mining deals with foreign mining companies without the knowledge of their communities as they believe the land belongs to them.
Black people will remain landless if they do not stand up and fight for the return of the land from traditional leaders and the government. The state and traditional leaders cannot be trusted as both are corrupt.
It will be very difficult for traditional leaders to relinquish the flawed practice created by colonial power and apartheid government as they have tasted honey. It will remain a pipe dream for black masses to own land unless the stupid notion created by colonial power and apartheid government is discarded.
• Rikhotso is a Sowetan reader
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