This is a rejoinder to The Land Is Ours: South Africa’s First Black Lawyers and the Birth of Constitutionalism by Tembeka Nqcukaitobi.  Contrary to the name of the book, “the land belongs to us” is not about land dispossession or land reform. It is about constitutionalism; the first generation of black lawyers; and how they used their “colonial education” experience to advance the struggle against discrimination and inequality in South Africa.

The author argues that arable land that is used for entertainment and other recreational activities in South Africa could be used for agriculture to feed millions of South Africans who cannot afford a decent meal. Trying to "safeguard" the interests of the middle class by keeping that land for leisure instead of using it for the general good will not protect the interests of the middle class either.

In this piece, I argue that there is a historical continuity that should be put into perspectives that in times of difficulty, capitalist interests find ways to reconcile ideological differences to cohesively self-correct. Using this dialectical materialism approach, I conclude that the ANC-led government has been its own impediment on land redistribution through a combination of bureaucratic lethargy, corruption and dogmatic adherence to artificial constructs of the “market”.

The South African parliament has voted for a motion to amend the constitution that will allow the government to expropriate private land without compensation. However, a true resolution of the land question must be in accordance with the needs of those who work and live off the land. This means the destruction of all existing tribal and feudal relations in the rural areas and the nationalisation of the land.