Kalahari story beguiles women’s club

WHEN South Africa’s best-known bushman, Dawid Kruiper, died he was given a state funeral, a ceremony that appalled author and eco-adventurer Patricia Glyn.

Dawid was the traditional leader of the Khomani Clan, the last remaining South African bushmen. According to his tradition his funeral should have been a simple one. Instead Patricia had been horrified by the pomp, ceremony and hypocrisy that surrounded the burial, she said.

Dawid’s death was the sad ending to the fascinating story that Patricia had come to tell Tuesday Rostrum at the August luncheon. It revolved around a tough journey into the thirstlands, a pilgrimage and a long-held secret. For Patricia, the expedition had been an emotional roller coaster ride, traumatic, depressing, heartwarming and exhilarating. Her companions, three generations of the Kruiper family, had at times tested her to the limits of her patience, but they had also given her and taught her so much, she said.

Patricia’s first encounters with Dawid and the Kruipers were while she was planning a walking trek through the Kalahari desert. Dawid was renowned throughout South Africa, mainly for spearheading a great human rights victory for his people. In 1999, the Khomanis had won a land claim resulting from the apartheid government forcing them out of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, their ancestral home.

The clan had been awarded 25 00 hectares in the park and six farms in an area near Tweerivieren, the main entrance to the park. While members of the clan had also been given certain cultural and heritage rights within the park, they were unable to access these because of a lack of resources.

Dawid, now old and frail, wanted to show his family certain places within the park and to teach the younger generation about their cultural heritage before he died. Then there was the secret passed on to him by his grandfather, the much-venerated Makai. He had borne the burden of being the lone custodian of this tragic secret for most of his life. Now he believed it was time to pass it on.

Dawid asked Patricia to change her plans and to take him and his family into the park, in search of their cultural heritage.

Patricia spoke candidly about the many trials she faced on this healing journey of discovery – and self-discovery. Ill health plagued the party. Early into the adventure, alcohol was brought into the camp and chaos ensued. She was horrified when her gentle companions became violent and abusive. She realised then how damaged and fractured was their community as a result of the abuse, displacement, marginalisation and even genocide that generations of bushmen had suffered.

Slowly, trust and eventually a bond of deep affection built up on both sides as she and her team accompanied the bushmen to various cultural sites and documented their findings. She developed an understanding of the Khomanis, realising that while she had seen their darker side, they still had an abundance of the gentleness, kindness and simplicity for which they were revered.

However, they were much more complex than most people imagined. In turn, they could be wily, funny, generous, philosophical, sad and extremely wise. Her interaction with ‘South Africa’s first people’ made her realise just how sustainably they used the earth’s resources. Natural environmentalists, they saw waste as a sin. She was amazed at their tracking skills, their knowledge and respect for their environment, their bush doctor skills and their ability to survive in such a harsh place.

Patricia also worried about the way the bushmen were stereotyped, how they were romanticised and, at the same time, despised as a backward people. While her companions impressed her with their ancient knowledge, the younger ones also had their feet firmly in the 21st century, often using modern technogoly to enhance their traditional skills.

And what was Dawid’s secret? Towards then end of their journey, the adventurers travelled north of Nossob camp to Grootkolk where Dawid found the graves he had heard about. They were thought to be the last resting places of German soldiers and Nama people killed in an undocumented battle. It could have been the last battle in the brutal war between the German settlers and the indigenous people, the Herero and Namas.

Dawid’s grandfather Makai was also there and Dawid’s secret is connected to what he remembered. To find out what it was, buy Patricia’s book, `What Dawid Knew’, published by Picador Africa. A substantial part of the profits from this book will go towards a project to uplift the Khomani clan, South Africa’s last surviving bushmen.