Tag: San people

Disputed Land Issues: The Case of the Khoi and San People and Amazon’s Headquarters

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations10 Comments
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Flag of South Africa
Flag of South Africa

The recent struggle faced by the Khoi and San people of South Africa over their land being used to build Amazon’s African headquarters brings back to light never ending issues: the appropriation of indigenous land by mega corporation, with the cooperation of local governments. While sometimes these local governments are powerless in the face of seemingly great deals that will “foster the local economy”, very often the governments are led by corrupt or ignorant individuals who seek immediate personal gains at the expense of the well-being of their communities (recent events in Sierra Leone). Lastly, why is it that it is always on “significant” indigenous lands that this occurs? Why not elsewhere? Of all places to build headquarters, couldn’t Amazon with its money find another piece of land in Cape Town? I am not against “development” or providing jobs to communities, but I wonder why these disputes are always recurrent. The excerpt below is from the BBC.

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Campaigners in the South African city of Cape Town are trying to halt the building of the African headquarters for Amazon. It’s a battle that pits cultural concerns against economic interests, as the BBC’s Vumani Mkhize writes.

San (Basarwa/Bushmen) hunters
San (Basarwa/Bushmen) hunters

It is an overcast day in Cape Town and the scenic Table Mountain is shrouded in a ghostly cloud that silently cascades down the rocky green slopes. At the foot of this historic landscape, a small group of activists from the Khoi and San communities have gathered near the entrance of a huge building site known as the River Club. The communities are seen as some of the earliest inhabitants of southern Africa.

… Across the road from where the activists have gathered, construction is already under way. …

The first phase of the nearly $300m (£215m) development, which will include the Amazon offices, is set to be completed in two years. However the Khoi and the San are determined to stop it.

Tauriq Jenkins, of the Goringhaicona Khoena Council, a Khoi traditional group, says the land has profound historical and cultural value to his people. “This place for us is sacred because it’s on a confluence of Liesbeek and Black Rivers. These embankments are known as the birthplace of the Khoena [Khoi] people,”
he tells the BBC.

It is also where the European colonisers had their first battle with South Africa’s indigenous people, which is marked with a blue plaque.

The 150,000 sqm development will include residential properties and shops as well as offices.

The Amazon site, which is seen as key to pulling in other companies, is set to take up nearly half the space, from where it will run its bourgeoning operations across Africa.

… Jody Aufrichtig, who heads the project, says the development will provide a massive boost to Cape Town’s tourism-reliant economy, hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. He said it would create 6,000 jobs during construction and about 13,000 indirect jobs. “It’s so desperately needed, especially post-Covid and some of the riots and troubles we’ve had in South Africa. It will give the people of Cape Town and South Africa hope and economic development.” [yeah right… so unless it is built on this specific site, there will be no jobs for South Africans? Of all the places to build, it had to be that one? Will elsewhere in Cape Town still not provide jobs to South Africans?]The tussle between the developer and the indigenous people of Cape Town comes amid the biggest unemployment crisis South Africa has ever faced.

… The site of the development is where the first conflict between the indigenous people and the Dutch colonisers took place in 1659.

“This very place is where land was stolen for the first time in South Africa,” Mr Jenkins says. The dispossession of Khoi and San land set in motion centuries of land seizures across the rest of the country. The issue of land ownership, or the lack of it, remains a thorny issue.

… Mr Jenkins and members of the Khoi and San communities remain unmoved by the argument that the new development will bring much-needed jobs. “The reason why this development is so expensive is because it’s on a floodplain. If Amazon and the developer could take its money and build the same scale development off this flood plain, you’d find the size of the development three to four times bigger, which means you’d be able to employ exponentially more people.” [So Amazon is building on floodplains, and it costs more to build there?… so why is the government allowing it? Are there not better sites in Cape Town that will be cost-efficient to the parties involved? Or is there something missing in this information? … doesn’t this scream of corruption?]

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Rooibos and Recognition for the Indigenous KhoiSan People

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations4 Comments

Rooibos_1
Prepared rooibos (source: Wikipedia)

Have you ever heard of rooibos ? Have you ever tasted rooibos tea? Well, as it is named, rooibos stands for red bush in Afrikaans, as denoted by its color. It is very popular in Southern Africa and has been consumed for centuries by the local indigenous Sān and  Khoi people. It grows exclusively in South Africa, in the Cederberg mountains north of the city of Cape Town. The leaves are used in a herbal tea, whose color is red like that of hibiscus tea. Traditionally, the local Sān people would climb the mountains and cut the fine, needle-like leaves from wild rooibos plants. They then rolled the bunches of leaves and brought them down the steep slopes using donkeys. The leaves were then chopped with axes and bruised with hammers, before being left to dry in the sun. Later on, once the European settlers had taken over the trade, no recognition to the indigenous people knowledge and input was given… until last week! Check out excerpts from the article published on South Africa’s Mail and Guardian below, and do not forget to follow the link for the full article.

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San (Basarwa/Bushmen) hunters
San (Basarwa/Bushmen) hunters

Transformation in the rooibos sector has been slow. The genocide of the indigenous San people and the virtual enslavement of the Khoi people in rooibos-growing landscapes of the Cape centuries ago, coupled with a government-controlled monopoly during the apartheid years, has led to a highly skewed and fractured industry.

Today, this R300-million local enterprise remains in the hands of about 300 white commercial farmers who cultivate 93% of the planted area. About 200 small-scale coloured farmers — largely confined to the dryer, more marginal parts of the winter rainfall fynbos region — produce only 2% of all rooibos tea.

A benefit-sharing agreement announced today by the minister of environmental affairs — between the rooibos industry and representatives of San and Khoi organisations — could signal the beginning of a change. 
More than R10-million a year — depending on weather, volumes and the price of rooibos — is likely to be distributed to trusts set up by San and Khoi organisations.

rooibos-country
Rooibos region in South Africa (source: rooibosltd.co.za)

If implemented judiciously and strategically, this could well change the face of rooibos in South Africa.

[…] At the agreement’s core is an annual traditional knowledge levy of 1.5% of the price that is paid by processors to farmers per kilogram of harvested rooibos. After being deposited into the government’s bioprospecting trust fund, the levy will be paid in equal parts to the San Council and National  KhoiSan Council. “Rooibos indigenous farming communities” — defined as “rural farming communities in rooibos growing areas who consist of descendants of original Khoi-Khoi peoples” — are to receive a portion from the trust set up for the Khoi people although the exact proportion has not yet been determined.

Non-monetary benefits will also be “explored” and could include the creation of employment opportunities, bursaries, development schemes, mentoring and the facilitation of livelihoods.

rooibos-tea
A cup of rooibos tea (source: MedicalNewsToday)

The agreement is a landmark, not only because it acknowledges the indisputable contribution made by traditional knowledge holders towards the establishment of the industry, but also because it could bring significant material benefits to indigenous San and Khoi people, many of whom remain marginalised and poverty stricken.

That the agreement offers restorative justice is undeniable, but the road ahead is far from smooth. Questions of how exactly benefits will be shared at a local level remain unresolved, and could result in conflicts. The long and troubled history of these oppressed communities has included dislocation, fracturing of family and community structures, and the undermining of people’s own initiatives.

The presence of strong, effective and transparent governance structures and sound external support will be essential to manage conflicting priorities proactively and ethically so that real benefits can be derived by all of the intended beneficiaries. …

Cosmic Africa: Africans and Astronomy

On By Dr. Y.In Great Civilizations, Great Science9 Comments

Cosmic Africa
Cosmic Africa

Dear all,

As a physicist, I could not pass on the opportunity to talk about the fellow South African astrophysicist Thebe Medupe ‘s work on Cosmic Africa. Cosmic Africa is a project/documentary about astronomy in African cultures, exploring astronomy among two of the oldest African tribes: the Namib (or Bushmen or San) of Namibia, and the Dogon people of Mali.  I heard this documentary one evening on PRI.  It felt so great hearing an elder from the Dogon tribe talking about their use of the moon, stars, etc, for their harvest.  People still study the sky and the stars to guide them during the hunting season; astronomy is an integral part of their daily lives, dances, and ceremonies.  This knowledge of the sky was passed on from generation to generations for the past 500 years.

Thebe Medupe
Thebe Medupe

The Dogon people knew certain celestial bodies that were just discovered/identified properly by Western science in the 50s and 60s.  They used the stars in spirituality and devised a divination system as discussed in the movie.  One of their great treasures is the knowledge of the star Sirius which Dogon elders confided about its existence to French anthropologists in the 1940s.  The Dogon elders said that Sirius had a companion star that was invisible to the human eye.

Dogon village
Dogon village

“They also stated that the star moved in a 50-year elliptical orbit around Sirius, that it was small and incredibly heavy, and that it rotated on its axis.  All these things happen to be true.  What makes this so remarkable is that the companion star of Sirius, called Sirius B, was first photographed in 1970.  While people began to suspect its existence around 1844, it was not seen through a telescope until 1862 — and even then its great density was not known or understood until the early decades of the twentieth century.  The Dogon beliefs, on the other hand, were supposedly thousands of years old.”  To read the full account, check out: The Sirius Mystery and the The Dogon Website.

San (Basarwa/Bushmen) hunters
San (Basarwa/Bushmen) hunters

The Bushmen of Namibia are the oldest people in Africa, as well as in the world.  They have lived in the Southern area of Africa for the past 20,000 years, and their celestial stories are just as old.  In the documentary, I love the way their celestial stories, and their story of creation was centered around the lion. Isn’t it interesting?  The lion, which is the king of the jungle,…purely African! I simply loved it.  The sky is interpreted in African terms: giraffes, lions, and zebras are seen among the stars where other people see bears and horses.  From the documentary, one sees that the Namib (Bushmen or San) healers welcome the bright evening star, the planet Venus, with a special dance….  The elders observe the shadows cast by the Sun and still count the days by the phases of the Moon, orient themselves, decide when to hunt, harvest, etc… with the sky.  They call the Milky Way the Spine of the Night and observe its three different positions during the night: it tells them about time and the changing seasons. Read more about the Khoisan people of Botswana and their fight for survival amidst government/Corporation’s menace.

To learn more check out the books: Sacred Symbols of the Dogon and The Sirius Mystery. Also check out the Foster brothers’ website (the producers): Sense Africa.