Khoisan marchers demand benefits at Parliament
HUNDREDS of Khoisan people marched to Parliament yesterday demanding to be recognised as army veterans so they could qualify for benefits like pensions and housing.
Led by the royal house of the Khoisan and wearing traditional clothes made of animal skins, the marchers were from the SA Cape Corps, Cape Regiments and the Khoisan Nation Defence Force. They chanted “We want to be integrated in the army” as King Khoebaha Cornelius III read the memorandum.
Ella Govender, deputy director in the Presidency, accepted the memorandum.
They want the integration to take effect from January 31.
“If our demands are not met, then we will do what the ANC government did to the apartheid government,” Cornelius said.
He said the Khoisan were shocked that the Traditional Leaders and Khoisan Bill of 2015 had been passed and was now with the National Council of Provinces for deliberation. “The general Khoisan community was never invited to participate in the drafting of the bill. This should have been done by way of media advertising or by means to reach those on the outskirts of the country.
“You have handpicked groups in the Khoisan community to assist you to draft the bill. Those groups do not represent the Khoisan nation but themselves. This bill is unashamedly racist, discriminatory and point-blank unconstitutional,” said Cornelius.
He said under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People of 2007, the Khoisan were recognised as the indigenous people of the country.
“This declaration gives clear guidelines on the implementation of our rights. You (government) are aware of that,” Cornelius said.