Down Fingo Village memory lane through art-based activities: Centring African women's group areas act experiences and family property management

Abstract

This article focuses on the property management practices of African Fingo Village women during and after the Group Areas Act (GAA) period (1950-1991), thereby documenting their stories. It first contextualises the historical significance of the 1855 British land practices that granted amaMfengu men the privilege to purchase freehold plots in the urban area of Fingo Village. This unique suburb developed landholding practices that incorporated both Western land titles and traditional African family property ownership. However, the GAA of 1950 changed the fate of African urban freeholders by creating racial zoning policies that disqualified African people from owning freehold urban properties. Using a drama-inspired, oral history methodology, the paper sheds light on the memories of Fingo Village women freeholders and on how they navigated the GAA-imposed restrictions. The discussions revealed the historical and legal knowledge of Fingo Village women regarding various forms of proof  of family property ownership that were in operation during the GAA era and beyond. The findings also brought to the fore conversations about the secrecy surrounding Fingo Village title deeds and the role of African women in these processes. The article offers possible reasons why some Fingo Village women used the untitled African tenure approach to protect their property against threatened eviction, and why others seek to rekindle Western land title law in the post-GAA era. The article contributes to the growing literature on African women’s urban land participation and the interdisciplinary approaches that combine history and theatre as methods for enhancing oral history research.