This House Is Not for Sale

Current research explores land, home, and community in South Africa through a sociological lens. It examines how land is understood not merely as a commodity but as an integral element of collective and familial identity that transcends formal ownership recorded in the Deeds Registry. This study foregrounds the lived realities of land use and collective agency, particularly in communities such as Soweto. For instance, graffiti-like “This House is Not for Sale” captures tensions arising from family disputes when an elder, once entrusted with maintaining the family home, opts to sell it—transforming a shared space into an individual asset. Such decisions frequently displace unemployed grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who turn to the community for support and solidarity. The community, in turn, intervenes, spray painting This House is Not for Sale to indicate that no one can sell this home, and as a family home, all family members belong to it. Drawing on arguments developed in my first book, These Potatoes Look Like Humans: The Contested Future of Home and Death in South Africa, the research emphasises the symbolic and relational dimensions of the land. It challenges conventional legal and property frameworks by revealing how land embodies spiritual, ancestral, and social significance, thereby deepening our understanding of the profound connection between land and identity. It further enriches critical debates on property rights, cultural heritage, and social identity.