Land and Restitution Forum: Zimbabwe and Land Reform

One afternoon my children and I drove past a school where the students coming out and parents waiting were overwhelmingly white. Less than a kilometre away, on the same street, we drove past another school, where the students and parents were only black or coloured. My son noticed this and asked me why there was such a different picture outside these two schools, so close and yet so far.

Another day we went to collect something from a huge house in a wealthy suburb of Cape Town. When we arrived at the gate, an older black man met us and led us in to collect the items. I assumed (correctly) that he was the caretaker of the property, but on the way home my daughter said: “that man is so lucky to have such a big house and garden”. I was struck that her assumption was that the property belonged to him. And I felt ashamed about my assumption, even though it was correct.