The land apportionment act

(1930)
By Ryan Takaendesa and Tinevimbo Maunganidze

Emanuel Zingwari
What is it about

 It was a segregationist measure that governed land allocation and

acquisition prior to independence…
 It made it illegal for Africans to purchase land outside Native purchase
areas within southern Rhodesia
It occurred under colonial rule
Overtime overpopulation of native reservations and reduced African access
to quality land resulting in economic and social inequality.
Before 1930 land rights

 Matebele land and Mashonaland was inhabited with the bantu from the
south
 Introduction of European Christian missionaries late 19th century increase
population of foreigners
 Concessions and treaties with tribal chiefs would changed legal
agreements in native tribal lands during the 18th and 19th century, due to
the scramble and partition of Africa and berlin conference that changed
native rule to foreign rule . Colonialism later changed power bases from
local natives to colonial foreign powers with military support from the
colonizing nations to secure colonies.
 Leading to British European law to replace African law
cont

 Southern Rhodesia was then under a charter under the control of British
South Africa Company and then became a governed British colony in 1923
 There were no longer barriers to land ownership by black Africans prior land
apportionment
Implementation for the act
legal restrictions

 Since agriculture was important in the economy ,foreign settlers saw that
subsistence and small scale farming as a waste in the use of farmland.
 Black landowners were portrayed as incapable for what white settlers deemed
profitable use, and these settlers began to push for not only segregation but
access to more land for further agricultural development
 Not every white settler pushed for land segregation on racial terms , the times
there were others who had proposed legal segregartion on racial terms; and at
the times there were others who proposed legal segregation as a method for
preventing future losses in African land holding by setting aside land exclusively
for African use In 1894, the first of many Land Commissions were established to
deal with issues relation to African and white settler land ownership. In 1925, the
Morris Carter Commission concluded that the proper solution to issues of land
allocation was the absolute segregation of land ownership between the white
and black populations. This resulted in the Land Apportionment Act of 1930,
passed by Southern Rhodesian Legislature that year and accepted by the
Imperial British government in 1931
implementation

 The Land Apportionment Act of 1930 segregated land ownership by segmenting certain
areas within the country to be for either white or African land ownership
 Setting 19.9 million hectares to white settlers and 3 million for the native population , which
later became 8.8 million and then land outside of reservations available to sixty percent of
population
 Then Lands allocated to white settlers tended to consist of richer soils and higher rainfall,
ultimately seen as lands with higher production potential. natives relinquished their land
rights as they were settled on what was now white only territory
 Now Africans were only allowed to purchase land in Native Purchase Areas, regions
situated at the border of native reservations land left was far from technical services and
resources needed for proper farming , they were lacking access to water or suffering from
overuse and soil erosion.
 The lands were considered to be poorer in quality and less valuable, and only a few
individuals were able to acquire land through these methods
Consequences to the act

 The Land Apportionment Act limited quality land access, resulting in the
overcrowding of Africans on native reserves, limited resources, and
poverty
 Destroying economy and social advancements for native , leading to
decline in agricultural production causing shortages of food with
individuals unable to engage in profitable farming
 The Act limited the ability for black Africans to live in urban centers,
being that the only land available to them was connected to Native
Purchase Areas
Reform

 As the 1930 Land Apportionment Act became entrenched into the history of white
settlement within Southern Rhodesia, attempts to address the issues it created continued to
push for land segregation and the limitation of African migration
 Rhodesian Referendum of 1969, in which white settlers attempted to create a white minority
country, moved to update the 1930 act through additions like the Property Owners (Residential
Protection) Act, which gave the right to remove individuals of a race different to that of the
majority in the surrounding areas
 The Rhodesian referendum of 1969 was a vote by the white settlers of Rhodesia to create a
republic and end their allegiance to the British Crown1. The referendum also changed the 1930
Act, which had divided the land between whites and blacks, by adding more restrictions on
black ownership and residence
 legislation such as the Land Tenure Act of 1969 were later altered during the civil war in 1977,
opening the way for black land ownership outside of the limits of The Land Apportionment Act of
1930
 Prior independence, ownership of land and reform of land have continued to conquere. After
independence, there was an increasing push for equitable distribution of the land in an attempt
to correct colonial injustices. White farmers still owned a disproportionate amount of viable land,
and profited from a dominant position in agricultural production
Cont.

 President Mugabe made steps to transfer land ownership to black civilians

after independence, with varied results. The issue intensified, with the 2000s
witnessing an attempt by the Zimbabwe government, along with peasant
farmers, youth, and veterans, to seize land from white settlers. This resulted
in the seizure of 10 million hectares, or 90 percent of all farms, without
compensation to title holding landowners
Terms

 The total acreage 96 000 000 acres

 49 149 174 acres given to whites
 Africans given 21 127 040 acres
Thank you