Paul Weinberg

The dispossession of land in South Africa began more than 300 years ago, but reached its peak in the apartheid years, when millions of African people - and others classified as 'non-white' - were removed to areas designated for black occupation. Among them were people in numerous rural communities who had owned land in the 'white' heartland. In the closing stages of the apartheid era, the first tentative steps were taken towards restoring such land to the dispossessed. The process gained momentum after a democratic government was elected in April 1994: one of the first pieces of legislation passed by the new parliament was the Restitution of Land Rights Act, providing for the restoration of land to people dispossessed after 1913. Forced removals were among the worst injustices of apartheid. By the same token, the restitution programme has been hailed as one of the new government's most notable achievements. Life in rural South Africa will never be easy, and the resettled communities face a host of economic and environmental problems. But these photographs celebrate a precious moment in South Africa's history - when the first people stepped back on to their land.

From Paul Weinberg, Back to the Land (Porcupine Press, 1996)