Ngubane was speaking at the South African Civil Society Information Service’s Land Reform and Traditional Leadership in SA panel discussion on Monday.
In communal areas, redistribution has not looked into the issue of addressing the needs of women in the allocation of land, she said. Chiefs hold the power to rural land but do not take women seriously, she said.
“In 1965, my mother was evicted from her marital home by my uncle. I accompanied her to the chief to ask him for land. He said no, adding if your daughter was a boy, I would have given you the land,” said Ngubane.
This was one of many stories Ngubane mentioned where women had been evicted from their land by a chief even though the land rightfully belonged to them.
Ngubane said she started RWM to advocate for women’s land rights and use of natural resources.
