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The ANC is a caring organisation. We’re here to test that – Khoisan at ANC54

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Clad in animal skin covering their private parts with their backsides exposed, four Khoisan descendants attracted lot of attention as they walked around the tightly secured Rand Show perimeter where the ANC elective conference is currently under way in Nasrec, Johannesburg.

One of them was limping as they wandered outside the conference venue. Desperation was all over their faces. They said they had been fasting for the past nine days and the effect of this was apparent, looking at their gloomy faces and dry lips.

After having walked more than 1000km over 18 days from their homes in Port Elizabeth to Pretoria dressed in their ancestors’ traditional one-piece garbs and bare-chested, their sunburnt shoulders had started peeling.

The four men have been camping at the Union Buildings since they arrived in Pretoria on November 30.

They are seeking a meeting with President Jacob Zuma and will ask him to recognise Khoisan community groups as the first citizens of this country, declare their language as an official language and be recognised as Khoisan or Bushmen and not coloureds.

“We tried it all and we were told on Thursday that President Zuma can only meet us in January. We received an acknowledgement letter from Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office, which promised to see if they can fit us somewhere in his hectic schedule,” said one of the four men, Christian Martin.

He said they had decided to stay on, camping on the Union Buildings lawns, until next year when they meet Zuma.

Asked why they decided to come to the ANC conference venue after having received responses from both Zuma and Ramaphosa’s offices, Martin said: “We came here to them as ANC leaders after having contacted them as government leaders and failed to get them to come meet us. We’re peaceful people ... we’re not here to disrupt the ANC’s important gathering.”

“The ANC is a caring organisation and we’re here to test exactly that. We’ll be good if one of the top six members can meet us, take our demands to the president and let us know what he say but if that does not happen we’ll go back camp at the Union Buildings where Zuma will find us in January.”

Speaking to City Press after they were barred by the police from getting any close to the entrance leading to the media centre at the conference, the four men; Martin, Chief Khoisan SA, Brendon Billings and Shane Plaatjies were left standing on an island between the road leading to the ANC conference venue close to Nasrec Road.

“Today is December 16, which is Reconciliation Day. As much as we know how important this conference is to the ANC, we were hoping they would use this special themed day and at least afford us just a few minutes with Zuma or Ramaphosa,” Martin said.

“If all fails today, we’ll go back to Pretoria and wait for Zuma in January while we continue to fast and pray. We wish the ANC a successful conference and hope whoever emerges here will at least see things differently and sympathise with our cause.” 


Poloko Tau
Journalist
City Press
p:+27 11 713 9001
w:www.citypress.co.za  e: poloko.tau@citypress.co.za
      
 
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