Pretoria: Camping Khoisan group to move once conditions met

The Khoisan group camped out at the Union Buildings will not move from the president’s backyard, unless he “plays ball” on issues raised, Rekord East reports.

These were the sentiments Chief Khoisan expressed to the media on Tuesday.

Chief Khoisan said if they ever left the Union Buildings, it would be after the president had responded to one of their demands.

He said they would only leave the Union Building if the president Cyril Ramaphosa recognised them as the first aboriginals of the nation.

“There is one demand that will make us leave here and that is if the president recognises us as first the nation and our rights as [the] first nation.”

He said that would be one factor that would cause them to leave the buildings.

“We will not forget about the other demands, however, it will mean more to us if he responds to one.”

Khoisan said it was important for his people to be recognised as they had suffered, been forgotten through the centuries and lost their sense of pride.

“Our people have lost their part in being proudly South Africans.”

He said the Khoisan nationals would be proud of their culture if they were recognised.

“However, we have not received a response since the 17 January, ” Khoisan said, adding their demands were first handed in in 2017.

“If the president responds to the recognition demand, then he would be restoring all the injustices his people suffered in the past,” Khoisan said they had also recently sent a letter to the presidency, requesting to meet him or his officials.

“We are planning to visit his offices where the letter was sent to check if he had received the letter and what the feedback is.”

Khoisan said they were also planning a conference and convention in March and May respectively to put more pressure on the presidency to respond to their list of demands.

The conference would take place in Pretoria and the convention in Mossel Bay.

“This conference will allow us to discuss a way forward and a way to put pressure on the presidency from all nine provinces, tackle some issues on the Khoi San traditional bill and also send out a recommendation to the president on why we reject this bill.”

He said the groups’ stay at the Union Buildings has been unpleasant because the officials and employees of the department of public works have “…now neglected to cut grass where we have camped”.

Khoisan said the protest was “very positive” as people were constantly supporting their journey.

“Every day we are here, we see positiveness from various communities in South Africa joining us and mobilising people to bring numbers to our protest.”

The group has endured sleeping in ripped tents and a lack of the necessities while waiting for a response to their demands since 2018.

Chief Khoisan said their stay at the Union Buildings had been “very stressful” as several attempts have been made to remove them.