Khoisan kicked out of the Union Buildings

After nearly seven years of Khoisan protest, the Department of Public Works (DPW) dismantled and removed their encampment at the Union Buildings on February 10.

The DPW obtained a Pretoria High Court order permitting the removal of the Khoisan members from the national key point.

The protesters left Eastern Cape on November 17, 2018, and arrived at the Union Buildings on December 5, 2018.

Since then, they have been the subject of much controversy.

The original eviction was meant to take place on January 11, however, King Khoisan SA and five others were involved in a car accident on the N9 between Colesberg and Noupoort on January 10, which claimed the life of Queen Khoisan Cynthia Triagaardt (54).

The DPW then extended the eviction notice by a further three-week period out of compassion for the Khoisan community.

A month later, the time had arrived for the order’s execution and hundreds of police members arrived around 5am on February 10 to dismantle and remove the encampment.

Spokesperson for the Khoisan, Willem Xesema, says that the group was taken aback by the eviction when a High Court Sheriff presented paperwork informing the group that it would be removed.

“They’ve given us no alternative and we have nowhere to go. It started two weeks back when they closed off the Union Building lawn to the public, we know now it was in preparation for this. It is sad that it had to come to this and the government cannot simply acknowledge us as the first nation. We are never going to stop, no matter what, we are not going to stop until our four demands are met,” Xesema said.

The Khoisan demands included:

– First nation recognition

– Khoisan language be made part of the official languages

– Engagement with the government over land

– Coloured identity to be scrapped.

Speaking to Rekord, King Khoisan SA says he believes that the DPW chose this day specifically, not only because he is still in hospital recovering, but because it is the month anniversary of the passing of the queen.

“This is something that we will not take lightly. We will convene, regroup and restrategise our way forward, even it means getting in contact with foreign nations, the G20 and others to ensure that South Africa is sanctioned for this action. We are also going to mobilise all the indigenous members across the nation and the world to stay home and not work, a complete shutdown which will greatly affect the economic stability of the country and other regions. We have been protesting this issue since 2017 when Cyril Ramaphosa was still Deputy President and are still demanding a meeting with him to address our demands as the First Nation people,” King Khoisan SA said.

He also accused the government of monitoring his social media presence to know when exactly to take advantage of the mourning community.

The king maintains that the efforts taken by the government do not constitute a loss for the Khoisan, as their fight is far from over and their members’ struggles will not be in vain.

DPW national spokesperson, Lennox Mabaso, speaking to a media house, said the eviction order was successfully and peacefully implemented.

“All along we have been conducting consultations as a caring government and ensuring that the people involved here are consulted and they are offers for them to be returned home. Some of them took up the offer and others resisted, hence today we have successfully executed the court order in line with our rule of law. We are currently governed by the rule of law and any person that is doing something illegal will be attended to. In this case, the court has made a ruling and we have got to respect the ruling and our constitution,” Mabaso said.

He added that only three members were left destitute and the belongings of the Khoisan will be placed in storage for safekeeping until the rightful owners can retrieve them.

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