Background

When the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park was proclaimed during the 1930’s, the livelihoods and freedom of movement of some of South Africa’s last remaining First Peoples, Bushmen as they often call themselves, were curtailed. A number of people were settled at the Park Headquarters at Twee Rivieren, but many members of the clan so dispossessed of their land dispersed, to Namibia, onto nearby farms, or further afield.

In 1995 they lodged a claim for the restitution of 400,000 ha of land in the Kalahari Gemsbok Park. After years of negotiation and verification, the claim was finally settled on 21st March 1999. At a moving ceremony attended by hundreds of San people as well as the world’s media, then President Thabo Mbeki signed a Land Claim settlement agreement transferring the title deeds of six Kalahari farms (approximately 36,000 ha) to the ‡Khomani San Communal Property Association. In addition, some 25,000 ha within the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park to be managed as a Contractual National Park was committed to the ownership of the community.

Although some progress, in addressing socio-economic issues, scarce employment opportunities, difficulty in accessing education and lack of infrastructure are still problematic.

Language, Heritage and Culture

The gatherer-hunter San are among the oldest cultures on Earth, groups have lived in southern Africa for about 100 000 years. Eland learners are taken on regular outings to learn the ancient skills of tracking and gathering.

N|uu is one of the  the San languages,  it has 112 distinct sounds including 45 characteristic “clicks” and has been passed down orally for generations. N|uu is the most endangered, still spoken language of Southern Africa. N/uu was thought to be extinct among expert linguists, but in the late 1990s, about 20 elderly speakers revealed their competence in this language. As of May 2020, only two elderly people and 2 younger people from the ǂKhomani community still speak N|uu.

Ms M Bock, of the ‡Khomani an community, teaches Eland learners N|uu.

For further information see  https://www.khomanisan.org as well as the Hugh Brody archive at UCT Libraries Special Collections.