The name is absent

62

2. LAND TENURE IN CHOKWE AND CHIBUTO DISTRICTS BEFORE INDEPENDENCE

Chokwe and Chibuto are linked culturally, politically, and economically. Both locations
include land in the fertile Limpopo Valley. The major ethnic group in both districts is the
Shangaan. Resource allocation and political power are determined by patrilineal rules.
Families have historically traded and established social links on both sides of the river. The
men of both districts migrate to South Africa for labor opportunities. By comparison with
central and northern Mozambique, there are more female-headed households. In addition,
they share a common history from the colonial period to the present. ¹⁵

In several locations peasants in the Limpopo River Valley were displaced from their lands
early in this century by private Portuguese farmers. Those farmers who occupied the
lowlands, close to the river, were particularly affected. In several places on both sides of the
river, farmers were forced away from the lowlands and up to the highlands. Later, in the
early 1950s, the colonial government encouraged poorer Portuguese farmers to settle in the
area. The government established the Colonato da Vale do Rio Limpopo, a huge irrigation
scheme covering more than 30,000 hectares.

Many peasants who lived in the territory of the scheme were forced to abandon their lands
and move elsewhere within the district or to another district. Some Mozambicans remained
to work as laborers on the colonato farms. Once the irrigation scheme was completed,
Mozambicans, some of whom had family land in the area, tried to enter the scheme but were
denied admission by the colonato administration. Others, who were angered by the loss of
land and the reportedly heavy-handed rule of colonato administrators, abandoned the land and
moved away from the area. At the same time, farmers who did not have land around the
scheme entered the area seeking access to land. These new land-aspirants would later
contribute to a complex picture of overlapping land rights and competitive claims as those
who had abandoned land attempted to return after independence, as war and drought forced
displaced people into the area, and as government policy displaced some persons while
granting land concessions to others. ¹ '

Although the situation is far from clear, it appears that local customary authorities
experienced a diminution of power and a transformation of responsibility with the introduction
of the colonato. These changes also came from the imposition of colonial political authorities
in the area. The transformation became even more manifest after independence, as noted
below. Some customary authorities were renamed regulos by the colonial government,
maintained their positions, and carried out the directives of the colonial government. Others,
who chose not to collaborate, were replaced or had their powers superseded by colonial
appointed regulos. Finally, others remained in power and quietly resisted and/or benefited
from the colonial administration."'

115. See Roesch (1988, 1992); Bowen (1988); Hermele (1986, 1988); Tanner, Myers, and Oad (1993); and
Wardman (1985).

116. See Tanner, Myers, and Oad (1993); Roesch (1988); Hermele (1988); and Bowen (1988).

117. Ibid.

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