From land reform to poo protesting: Some theological reflections on the ecological repercussions of economic inequality

Abstract

In the second semester of 2013 I offered a postgraduate module in Ethics at the University of the Western Cape together with Professor Charles Amjad-Ali on the theme of Land as a lens to interpret economic inequalities in South Africa. We read together a number of books on the themes of land reform and economic inequality. In this contribution I will first offer a number of observations emerging from our engagement with such literature. I will then extrapolate such observations to explore the ecological dimensions of urban land reform with specific reference to the ongoing service delivery protests over sanitation (dubbed "poo protesting"). On this basis I will offer some theological and ethical reflections on the need for sanitation.