Protesting group prepared to weather festive storm
THE Khoisan group camping outside the Union Buildings demanding President Cyril Ramaphosa give in to the demands of their people will stay put throughout the festive season.
They have been staying there for more than a year, and their leader Chief Khoisan SA said they were determined to survive cold and rainy nights until Ramaphosa walked down the stairs from his offices and talked to them.
They have been calling on Ramaphosa to declare the Khoisan the first nation of the country and rightful owners of the land.
Chief Khoisan SA said they wanted the government to scrap the use of the term “coloured” and make some of the languages of the Khoisan people official.
“We remain adamant that we will not leave this place and no amount of rain or holiday fever will sway us from our mission.
“On November 30, we marked a year of protests here and this is officially the longest protest.”
He said even though Ramaphosa signed the Traditional and Khoi San Leadership Bill into law last month, they were not impressed.
The legislation seeks to transform traditional and Khoi-San institutions in line with constitutional imperatives, such as the Bill of Rights.
It is also aimed at restoring the integrity and legitimacy of the institutions of traditional and Khoisan leadership in line with customary law and practices.
Chief Khoisan SA said his people were not moved by the bill because it was old – previously called Traditional Leadership Bill – and was amended with the addition of the term “Khoisan” to make it seem more accommodative.
“This bill does not clearly state and acknowledge us as the first nation of the country and the rightful owners of the land. It does not say how much land will be given to us. It is basically just an old bill that has been made to sound good with fancy words.
“This law has been hanging for a long time. We went through a public participation process and made suggestions of what we want and those suggestions were not used. It’s clear the president is not yet ready to take us serious and we shall continue our protest.
“Our demands are bigger than just government releasing statements. We also want the scrapping of the word ‘coloured’ because in 1991 they banned it together with the ‘k-word’.
“Now when you talk to the government they will ask you if they remove it, what about those who call themselves ‘coloured’. Well, had they been consistent, there wouldn’t a need to ask that question.”