Land and grazing disputes and overlapping authorities in Namibia

Illegal grazing and the fencing of land by livestock owners, elites and non-elites alike is endemic in Namibia. Fencing violates the Communal Land Reform Act of 2002. Court cases are held to stop the illegal use of land. The institutions that according to the Act have the authority to stop these practices do not perform accordingly and their authorities frequently overlap. The legal battle to remove fences or stop illegal grazing evolves as more than a struggle for justice. The case unfolds as an ontological struggle between actors, their institutions and respective policies and discourses, pivoting on conflicting visions of modernities and interpretations of the meaning of land.