The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has initiated yet another eviction order to get rid of the group of Khoisan protesters that has been camped outside the Union Buildings for almost five years now.

This was after King Khoisan SA and a group of his followers, who have been illegally living at the Union Buildings near the Nelson Mandela statue, refused to leave after being served with a 30-day eviction letter on February 20.

“We have been here for so long and yet the president is still ignoring our demands that he received on December 24, 2017,” King Khoisan SA said.

According to him, it was the third such eviction notice.

Their demands included:

– Khoisan to be recognised as the first indigenous nation of SA
– the label “coloured” be removed from all official government documents
– Kwazi-Khoe be listed as an official language.

He said they were committed to staying until their demands were met.

“Our words are clear: we are not going nowhere.”

“We are currently issuing letters of demand,” a departmental spokesperson, Thami Mchunu, told Pretoria Rekord.

The department also told Pretoria Rekord that it was unaware of any reports of marijuana being grown at the protest site again.

King Khoisan SA made international news headlines after police uprooted several cannabis plants from the spot in January 2022.

He was subsequently arrested but was later released on bail.