Publication Source : Dailymaverick.co.za
The national co-ordinator for the Alliance for Rural Democracy (ARD), Constance Galeo Mogale, is a formidable force in the rural land rights arena and as we conduct the interview her fiery passion is unmistakable as she punctuates her sentences with blazing eyes and razor-sharp analysis.
Mogale was born in rural North West and has a long history of land rights activism spanning as far back as the first democratic dispensation. She describes herself as a daughter of families dispossessed of their land on both sides. Mogale says she started off in activism with just a matric certificate and the passion engendered in her by her two grandmothers who raised her.
Her parents were domestic workers in Johannesburg, with her father being both a petrol attendant and gardener. Her father’s family was originally from and owned land in Lichtenburg but was later removed to Ramatlabama – a village about 25km from the border of Botswana – where she stayed until she completed her matric.
