We’re taking back our land, says Khoisan
Agency (ANA) African News THE Khoisan community representatives who are camped at the Union Buildings in Pretoria demanding a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday threatened to “rise” and take back their land if the government continued to sideline them, particularly from the land debate, as they are the “rightful citizens” they claim.
Reading a memorandum addressed to Ramaphosa, the leader of the community, Chief Khoisan SA, said his people were prepared to fight for what was theirs.
“Let us make it clear to the government – the land does not belong to the blacks, Nguni and white people. It belongs to the first nation of South Africa. We have welcomed everybody to our country, as we are a loving and caring nation, but now we found ourselves without what is most precious to us – the land,” Chief Khoisan SA read from the memorandum to journalists.
“Our people have been labelled so many things, and we find ourselves deprived of our culture, our heritage, our language. We know who we are, yet we are constantly reminded about the past. We are giving this government the opportunity to respond immediately to us.”
Referring to King Goodwill Zwelithini as a “foreign king”, Chief Khoisan SA said: “Mr President, we are appealing to you to do right to the aboriginal people of this land, or the threats that were made by the foreign King Zwelithini will become reality when the aboriginal people rise to take back what is rightfully ours.
“Do not do as those before you when they rebelled against us. Blood was shed to get the land back.”
Earlier this year, King Zwelithini said if the Ingonyama Trust Act was affected by the government’s plan to expropriate land without compensation, he would fight to have KwaZulu-Natal declared a separate Zulu homeland.
Yesterday, Chief Khoisan SA said his community was fed up with being sidelined, and would be “taking back” their nation.
“We, as the rightful owners of this country, will be taking our country back as the natives of this land. We have been engaging through many avenues to appeal to this government to give us what is rightfully ours.
“It all fell on deaf ears, and we are still sitting in the same situation that we have been when foreigners invaded our land and our people had to go through the worst genocide in the world,” the chief said. “We were told that it’s going to be better when we fought against white domination, and black domination for the democracy that we are not part of, in our own country.
“We, as the first nation, the aboriginal people, are being subjected to inhumane behaviour in our own country, and we are treated like dogs by this government that is preaching to the world that it’s a caring government.
“Return our land. Return it to the rightful owners. We have been put here on this land by the creator of heaven and Earth as custodians of this country. Everyone in this country is fighting over land – black and white – yet the rightful owners of the land are not being engaged,” the chief said.
The Khoisan community is also fighting for the so-called “coloured identity” to be scrapped. |