**3. Relevance of practical theology**

Meiring [12] confirms that the problem is current and relevant when he says: "We do have to face the fact that South Africa, 20 years after democracy, is still a fractured and a very divided country. Racism, alienation, xenophobia are still with us, as is the case with corruption, greed and endemic violence." This basic truth is what according to the author of this article dragged most of the transformational projects very slow, hence, for 25 years it looks like most of the citizen's lives did not move for an inch from what it was before 1994.

It is important to note the fundamental truth in what Hall [13] warns us against when saying: "When we debate racism that it is important that we don't only look at racism in relation to land as something that just happened in the past, but as an issue that continues to be felt today." This argument informs us that as much as theology had tried to fight racism in the past, we need to remain alert that the fight is not over because the fight can only be won if all inhabitants of South African have an equal share in all opportunities, including land ownership. While theology is also caught ball watching, the patience of the people it intends to serve is also tried with by this resistance. The organisation called Landless People's Movement (LPM) has come to alive because of the delay on the issue of land, as they are demanding answers to the very same issue. For me, inequality and any form of sabotage of human dignity is a concern that theology cannot keep silent about. Turning a blind eye on the situation is an indication of the demise of such a theology. One of the fathers of black theology, James Cone, spent much of his time on writing about this issue, when saying that any theology that does not answer the problems of the people at hand must cease to exist

#### *Land Redistribution: A Thorny Issue towards Reconciliation in a Post Apartheid South Africa… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104380*

(Cone's theology). According to Bosch ([14], 32–34), Jesus' message on the kingdom includes God's power that attacks the evils of the society in whatever form they manifest. The church of Jesus did not neglect works of compassion as part of proclaiming God's message in totality; hence, pain, disease, demon and other forms of brokenness were dealt with. In addition, the intention of this paper is not to undermine the South African judiciary system and its procedures on issues of land and reconciliation, but to highlight and to unveil that the slow pace art in which the process is taking place is not helpful for many landless people. It is the very same democratic government that made the promise to deliver and it is the same government that must be held to account for their promises. For the government to do things legally and according to the rule of law is what everyone expects, but that does not necessarily imply that things must be as slow as they are with regards to the land issue. It is important for the author to mention that it is the very democratic government that must be held an account on the land issue because it is the one that made a promise to distribute the land at least by 2014 which is seven years back [15, 16]. Part of this article's task is to critically highlight that it is the very same promise that must be kept, of course within the confines of the law that is governing the country. The author is not supportive of anything that is done outside the parameters of the law, urges that the required speed is maintained to distribute the land before things get out of hand as signs are already showing by some land grapping experienced.

### **4. Limitations and focus of this research**

South Africa is one of the countries with young democracy after many years of colonialism and apartheid, implying that some of the changes taking place are still confusing and not perfectly done. The reality is that the challenges caused by inequality are complex and often intertwined, for instance, poverty, unemployment and other social challenges. It will be too ambitious to want to attend to all these in one chapter, but for the sake of this specific study, the author decided to avoid floating around all these problems, but focus on the land issue as a trap towards reconciliation. This does not however not mean that land issue will not affect other social problems or be affected by them, but the other social ills will also get their day in another research. This of course is not intended to claim that land issue will solve all the other existing problems, but it will open opportunities to face other realities, for instance, before one has a land it is difficult to imagine the exposure to issues like drought, storm and pest invasion. These are issues for future research.

Our African forefathers left us an idiom that says: "The best way to eat the elephant standing in your path is to cut it up into little pieces." Slowly and patiently taking each problem at a time we will transform our country for the benefit of all who live in it.

### **5. Definition of some important concepts**

The word land redistribution refers to a way in which the commercial land that has been owned by the whites is transferred to black South Africans. The literary translation of reconciliation suggests that it is a restoration of friendly relations; it can also be used as synonyms for appeasement, reunion, conciliation, harmonising and so forth. It is dangerous to use reconciliation a synonym of forgiveness

because, according to Cornell [17], one can forgive, without providing an immediate reconciliation. Reconciliation is a restoration process whereby trust is deeply broken and it may be a lengthy process at times. The process of reconciliation depends on the attitude of the offender; the depth of betrayal and the pattern of offense. The unrepentant heart is difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile; hence, a line of difference should be drawn between restorative and retaliatory reconciliation.

The study made available by Akinyemi [15] on land ownership and usage for agriculture clearly makes a very good understanding of the link between landlessness and poverty. The author does not of course undermine the fact that there are many factors involved with regards to poverty, but since this is not the main intention of the study, it can be argued that having or not having the land can assist in making the separation between the rich and the poor. The author would avoid making generalisation if the division between the rich and poor for other countries also connects to land, but as for South Africa the research mentioned above makes that connection clear [15]. This however does dismiss the argument that every poverty in every country is alluded to land, that is not what this article is arguing or saying.
