THE KHOISAN AT THE UNION BUILDINGS
In November 2018 King Khoisan SA, the selfproclaimed king of the Khoisan, walked from Gqeberha to the Union Buildings to hand over a memorandum to government asking for four things: to be recognised as the first people of SA, for the Khoekhoegowab language to be made an official language, to be classified as Khoisan and not “coloured”, and for the return of their ancestral land.
This was the second time the king had walked to the Union Buildings. The first time was in 2017, when he went on a hunger strike for 17 days before being seen by Cyril Ramaphosa, who was then deputy president.
This time round they decided they would not leave until their demands had been given adequate attention from government. The king, and six others who joined him, set up camp on the grounds. Three years on, they’re still waiting for an audience with the president.
The king’s wife, who introduces herself only as Cynthia, left behind two children when she joined him in December 2018 for what she thought would be a holiday.
“It’s three years now. Our lives have literally been placed on hold,” she says.
“We’re having a tough time. Look at our place. The rain comes, the wind comes, we rebuild, we break down. This is how it goes every day. It’s a struggle.”
Their only source of water in their camp is a sprinkler next to their tents and they use the public toilets on the premises.
As part of their camp — which flanks the statue of Nelson Mandela — they built a boma to keep them warm on cold nights, and lockdown necessitated the planting of a garden as a source of food.
In January, King Khoisan was arrested for cultivating cannabis on the grounds and allegedly dealing in drugs.
Queen Cynthia says they have never sold cannabis to anyone and that they use it for medicinal purposes. They believe it was a ploy by government in an effort to remove them from the premises.
King Khoisan was released on bail and will appear in court on March 29.