Government is to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the concerns of the Khoisan people.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa disclosed this after meeting with Khoisan representatives who’ve now ended their hunger strike outside the Union Buildings.
Ramaphosa received and signed their memorandum of demands.
The Deputy President offered them a flight home after they said they’d walked from Port Elizabeth.
“You must know already that there’s a Bill that has been approved by the National Assembly that gives recognition to the Khoisan, but also to the heritage of the Khoisan. So that Bill is now before the Parliament and is now going to the NCOP. It will be passed and in the end we will set up a commission that will do precisely what the Nhlapo commission did with traditional leadership of all our people in the country.”
The Deputy President’s intervention comes a day after the South African Council of Churches (SACC) called for government to give the Khoisans a hearing.
The Khoisan claim to have walked for three weeks from Port Elizabeth to Pretoria to hand over the memorandum .
One of them was hospitalised after experiencing chest pains during their controversial hunger strike outside the Union Buildings.
They only survived on water. Brenden Billings says they appreciate the response by the government.
“We did manage to get the Deputy President and we appreciate that. We really appreciate him for coming and making up time to sign our memorandum.”
They demand among others to be recognised as the first nation of South Africa and to have their language added as an official language.
They say they are fighting for the plight of more than 20 Khoisan groups mostly located in the Eastern and Western Cape as well as the Platfontein in the Northern Cape.
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