Elim, South Africa - On
the plains of South Africa's Western Cape, a tiny town has
become an unlikely contender in South Africa's drive for more
equitable land rights.
Nearly 200 years ago, German missionaries set up a mission
station in what would later be named Elim to provide a home for
freed slaves and indigenous Khoi people who would become their
first converts.
Now, their descendants say the time has come for them to own
the land the Elimers have been living on for almost two
centuries, rather than the Moravian church that set up the
mission station.
In February Elimers will present a proposal to the Moravian
church council, with different land ownership possibilities,
such as buying or leasing the 7,500 hectares they call home from
the church.
"Not owning land feels like we have gone back to being
slaves," said Amanda Cloete, Elim's heritage officer.
"Our ancestors built this town. We want the land," the
58-year-old said inside the Elim heritage museum she founded in
2004.
Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
Across South Africa, a quarter century after segregation and
white minority rule under apartheid was officially ended through
a negotiated settlement, land ownership remains a sensitive
topic.
President and African National Congress leader Cyril
Ramaphosa in 2018 launched a process to change the constitution
to make explicit provision for the redistribution of land
without pay to address high levels of inequality.
This national conversation has trickled into the town of
Elim known for thatched roofing, the occasional horse-drawn
cart, slave memorials and wild indigenous fynbos plants.
"People are land-hungry," Kenneth Cloete, 78, a retired Elim
school principal told the Thomson Reuters Foundation inside an
old church building now used for meetings.
"To have land, especially in South Africa, you feel like you
are somebody, you have a self-esteem, a sense of belonging," he
said.
Yet Elimers are cautious about challenging the traditional
role the Moravian church, which originated in Bohemia and
Moravia in what is the present-day Czech Republic, has played in
the town.
Elim was established in 1824 by German missionaries as a Moravian mission station Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
A LIVING MUSEUM
In the final year of school, Elimers undertake "citizenship
classes" set by the church.
They sign a pledge to follow rules such as only cohabiting
with a spouse, carrying a dog permit if a pet owner, respecting
the church's right to issue levies, obeying their duty to God
and more.
If land ownership changes hands, both the church and some
residents worry the Elim ethos and "living museum" feel, as
referred to by Cloete, will be lost.
"We fear shacks being built here, property values dropping
and the culture changing," Cloete said.
Carl Richter, 48, a small-scale farmer who owns Elim's only
restaurant with his wife Madelein, agrees with that sentiment.
"But if you own land, we can do something for ourselves, we
don't have to rely on others," he said in his restaurant where
an 'I love Elim' sign welcomes customers.
Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
The first pioneering missionary, Georg Schmidt, was sent by
the Moravian church to what was then the Cape Colony in 1737,
research has shown.
Elim was established 87 years later, becoming a safe haven
for freed and escaped slaves from Malaysia, Madagascar,
Mozambique and Indonesia, due to its proximity to the sea, said
Reverend Martinus October, Elim's former pastor.
"Today, many people are shouting for title deeds," said
October who has worked with the Moravian ministry for 40 years.
"They are saying the church owns the land, but anyone part
of the Moravian church owns the land as we are the custodians,
they are the shareholders," October, 73, said.
Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
DIVIDED
In a town where 60% of residents are pensioners and most
young people seek jobs in Cape Town, according to Reverend
October, new businesses are needed.
But one of the problems the landless Elimers face is that
they cannot get loans for starting a business, said Pierre
Apollis, the chairperson of the Overseers Council.
Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
Paulson Engel, a member of the Elim Residential Association,
said business pitches involving tourism and exporting flowers
fell short after a communication breakdown with the church.
"Who is going to invest in a farm owned by the Moravian
church?" he asked.
Elim has its own school, clinic, police station, home for
children with learning disabilities, greenhouse and dairy,
funded by sources including the church, the Cape Agulhas
municipality and donations.
The church's Overseers Council acts as Elim's municipality,
collecting waste, supplying water and supporting the elderly,
while the Cape Agulhas municipality provides electricity and
partial funding for projects and infrastructure.
Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
SOULS OR MONEY?
To become and remain an Elimer after the citizenship
classes, one must pay at least 60 rand ($4) per year, said
Elim's current pastor, Reverend Gert Temmers.
For municipal services an additional 350 rand per month is
paid to the Overseers Council, while starting a business and
farming require annual levies of 250 rand and 150 rand per
hectare respectively.
"The church is strangling small farmers and business
owners," said Richter. "It is no longer about winning souls for
them, it is about winning money."
Despite these levies, the church is short of funds to pay
tax to the municipality, repair broken buildings and keep social
enterprises - such as a former sewing factory and bakery - open
for business, said Apollis.
Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
The church said there is simply not enough to go around, as
money needs to be paid to the Moravian provincial board that
oversees the mission stations and the Cape Agulhas municipality
for electricity and other services.
The Overseers Council said these funds have been poorly
managed by the church.
"There has been maladministration (by the church)," said
October. "But not malice," he added.
Temmers said the church "is open to rethinking the
management structure" of Elim, including land ownership and the
role of the church in fulfilling municipal services.
Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
"The people must decide what they want," he said.
Inside the church's office, amid a few notices, posters and
inspirational quotes pinned on the wall, a small square of paper
reads 'Old ways don't open new doors'.
Pastor Temmers laughed when asked about the relevance.
"I disagree with this," he said. "Old ways can open new
doors. We can learn from history to understand the best ways to
move forward."