RAPULA MOATSHE
The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is yet to reveal its plan for enforcing a court order to evict King Khoisan SA and his followers from the Union Buildings.
The department approached the Gauteng High Court, seeking for the removal of a group of the Khoisan community from the Union Buildings, which is deemed a heritage site where no temporary structures are allowed.
On December 11, 2024 the court granted the department an eviction order, giving the Khoisan 30 days to vacate the premises.
Despite the looming Saturday deadline for them to vacate the premises, King Khoisan SA has made it clear that they intend to resist removal by authorities, setting the stage for a potential standoff.
Since 2018, the small group of Khoisan community members has been camping in tents just metres from the towering statue of former president Nelson Mandela.
They are demanding a meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa to address their grievances, which include being recognised as the first nation in the country, their right to land ownership and abolition of the term "coloured".
King Khoisan SA said: “If they remove us by force it will create not only national havoc but international havoc. We will continue to go around this country, speaking about the government’s injustice against the Khoisan people.”
He said they were prepared to either be put in jail or shot at by the law-enforcement authorities.
According to the eviction order, in the event the respondents do not vacate the property the department, as the main applicant, together with the sheriff or deputy of honourable court or SAPS members “are authorised to demolish or remove the temporary dwelling structure erected by the respondents and the greenhouse at the Union Buildings”.
The respondents were also interdicted from occupying the Union Buildings or any part of the premises or erecting temporary structures.
King Khoisan SA said: “We don’t know exactly what will happen after January 11, but we are saying we will still be here until the government starts engaging with us on the issues why we are here in the first place. We have been here since November 30, 2018.”
He said the group’s only engagement had been with the late Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu in 2019.
“We think that Khoisan people have been silent for quite a long time. We know that the Khoisan people are the first people of the land. So, it means we are rightfully the owners of the land,” he said.
He said it was not for the first time they faced an eviction order. The first order was in 2020 and was withdrawn by former public works minister Patricia de Lille.
In 2022, he was arrested with three others for planting dagga in the area.
James de Villiers, spokesperson for Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson, is yet to comment on how the department plans to enforce the eviction order against the Khoisan group.