Land shortage and Inheritance in a Lebowa Village

While ethnographers document rules of inheritance as favouring the oldest son in both Pedi and Ndebele tradition, the inhabitants of this Trust village ‐ of both language groups ‐claim to practise last‐born inheritance. The paper explains this change as resulting from the extreme shortage of land in the village, due to the area's rapid population by ex‐labour tenants from the white farms of the southeastern Transvaal. The “rule” of ultimogeniture is, however, flexibly interpreted. A married son may be favoured above the youngest, since the role of women in tending the inherited plot, and in caring for aged in‐laws, is crucial. A couple wishing to transfer land to an unmarried daughter, in the absence of a married son, is hamstrung by the rule ‐ “traditional” but enshrined in Homeland bureaucracy ‐ that only men may inherit land. Another divergence from the norm can be seen in the case of many Ndebele families, whose extended and solidary structure prompts an indefinite deferment of the transfer of land to one single heir so that it may continue to be used by the whole household.