The Land Wars: The Dispossession of the Khoisan & AmaXhosa in the Cape Colony

As part of the Property & Society Discussion Group, author John Laband will discuss his book The Land Wars: The Dispossession of the Khoisan and AmaXhosa in the Cape Colony (Penguin, 2020).

Perhaps the most explosive issue in South Africa today is the question of land ownership. The central theme in this country’s colonial history is the dispossession of indigenous African societies by white settlers, and current calls for land restitution are based on this loss. The Land Wars traces the unfolding hostilities involving Dutch and British colonial authorities, trekboers and settlers, and the San, Khoikhoi, Xhosa, Mfengu and Thembu people – as well as conflicts within these groups. In the process it describes the loss of land by Africans to successive waves of white settlers as the colonial frontier inexorably advanced. The book does not shy away from controversial issues such as war atrocities on both sides, or the expedient decision of some of the indigenous peoples to fight alongside the colonizers rather than against them.

John Laband is Professor Emeritus of History at Wilfrid Laurier University and Research Associate in the Department of History, Stellenbosch University. He is also a life member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge and a fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He has authored and edited more than 20 books, with particular reference to the history of the Zulu Kingdom and colonial wars in Africa.