TCOE

As this Annual Report goes into print, the exhibition
and public dialogue is still making its rounds
arounil the country. We are therefore not able to
provide a complete overview of the process or to
makc a comprehensive evaluation of its impact.
However, even at this early stage, it is possible to say
that the event far outweighed the expectations of the
organization.
When we first discussed the idea of a photo exhibition,
we did not fully realise the magnitude and
scale of the public engagement we would unlock. At
the time we wanted to find a new way of sustaining
the interest in the challenges facing rural communities
that had emerged as a result of the people's
Tribunal on Landlessness. We wanted to keep
rural issues visible and stimulate a broad public
dialogue that would build a bridge between
rural and urban communities and enable all
South Africans to gain insight into the lives and
struggles of the rural poor. The exhibition,
therefore, was our way of creating another
space for rural leaders to speak out as part of a
broader campaign to make their voices heard
and to engage all levels of government. For us,
it was particularly important that rural concerns
and interests form part of the country's
reflection on the first decade of democracy and
in preparation for the third general elections.
The rural poor who participated in the people's Tribunal
in December 2003 and March
2004 had made their demands and aspirations
clear: they wanted land - land for grazing,
housing, food security and for sustainable
livelihoods. They called for the scrapping of

the property clause in the Constitution, which was
perceived as protecting those who have benefitted
from apartheid. and rejected the willing-buyer, willing-
seller policy. They demanded an extension of
the cut-off date for restitution claims, and called on
the government to pick up the pace of land redistribution.
We felt that the photo exhibition and public
dialogue would not only continue to highlight these
needs but also take the process forrvard by focusing
on the development of alternatives to current policy frameworks.

Overview of Events

To date (March 2005), the exhibition has been
launched in six cities and towns across South Africa.
The venues in which these events were hosted ranged
from the busy public concourse benveen the train station
and taxi rank in Cape Town and a shopping mall
in Tzaneen, to museums and art galleries in George
and Port Elizabeth, and city halls (Port Elizabeth,
East London, Grahamstown). All venues were well
chosen in that they provided easy access to people
from all walks of life and were conducive to hosting the side events.
Participants and visitors to the exhibition included
the judiciary, private sector, public sector, members
of parliament, university academics and activists
from a wide range of civil society organisations. At
several venues groups of high school students and
their teachers also visited the exhibition. Prominent individuals who participated include Chief Justice
Pius Langa, the Chief Land Claims Commissioner,
the Eastern Cape Land Claims Commissioner, and
the premiers of the Eastern Cape and Western Cape
provinces. Various rural community leaders
addressed the openings at the different venues, sharing their experiences of rural poverty and giving
voice to their grievances.
Many of the programs incorporated praise
singers, poets, marimba bands and popular
choirs in an effort to ensure that the openings
were festive celebration of rural life and culture.
In George, a local community theatre group
who depicted life as experienced by the majority
of rural landless people living in the Southern
Cape, was the highlight of the program.
Seminars and discussions that formed part
of the public dialogue included issues such as:

Rural Local Government and service delivery.

Alternative approaches to land reform.

Implications and benefits of the Agri-BEE
policy

Impact of HIV-AIDS and the advantages and disadvantages
of Anti-Retroviral drugs

The roots of gender violence

Land and racism

Access to food as a basic right

Media and the rural voice

In all cases, themes stressed that the unequal distribution
of wealth and power can only result in the
further erosion of people's livelihoods and rights.

Participants agreed that a substantial policy review is
necessary in order to address poverty, the growing
gap between rich and poor as well as the staggering
rate of unemployment in both urban and rural areas.
It was argued that if government wished to resolve
poverty in rural areas, there would have to be a
rethink of land as an economic lever in the countryside
and a reversal of the current skewed land owvnership
patterns. Central to this is the need for a rural
development strategy that incorporates issues of
resourcing, support, infrastructure development and
the delivery of basic services. Participants also
focused on possible alternatives for addressing the
challenges that they identified.
The exhibition will travel to Cala, Pretoria,
Durban and Pietermaritzburg in the next period.