Country: South Africa 

Group: San

Date Finalized: 11/08/2021

Team 1: Zaida Arellano Reyes (lead), Natasha Chandra, Jocelyn Chen, Mason McNeal, and Ash Pessaran

            San peoples have lived in Southern Africa for more than 20,000 years (Siyabona Africa, 2021). Before colonization, the San were spread from South Africa to Mid Africa (IPACC, 2021). A history of colonialism and political rule has resulted in the marginalization of the San people and the loss of their ancestral land (Minority Rights Group, 2016; Minority Rights Group, 2015b). Today, they are mostly concentrated in South Africa (IPACC, 2021).

            European colonizers seized indigenous lands and forced the San people into farm labor or pushed them away into the cape (IPACC, 2021; Dekhordi, 2020). After 1908, the San people’s loss of land led to conflict with German authorities (Minority Rights Group, 2021). In 1913, colonial powers enacted the Native Land Act, which allocated 7% of arable land to indigenous populations and the rest to settlement for white South Africans (Minority Rights Group, 2016; Minority Rights Group, 2015b). In 1931, the Khomani San people were evicted from the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (Minority Rights, 2018; Minority Rights Group, 2015a). In 1936, San people were unwillingly taken to Europe for public display (York, 2016). Since 1957 the Angola’s civil war has displaced the San across the country. Government resettlement of the San communities led to some San people being displaced more than once (The New Humanitarian, 2004). From 1960 to 1970, the Department of Nature Conservation took 90% of the San people traditional land (SAHO, 2021). From 1990 to 1999, the Tswana peoples claimed the land at Schmidtsdrift, where the San people lived in tents, consequently losing claim to the land (Minority Rights, 2018). Approximately, 90,000 San people live in the area (IPACC, 2021). As of 2005, there are about 5,700 groups of San people in South Africa. The South African army brought them from Namibia, southern Angola, and Northern Cape (Minority Rights, 2018; Minority Rights Group, 2015a). In April 2020, the Botswana government forcibly evicted the San people from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve because of all the diamond mines in these lands. The San people are now confined in camps situated in hostile territory without medical services or schools (Siyabona Africa, 2021). Currently, the San people are suffering greatly from lack land rights as they are being displaced due to wildlife conservation (Minority Rights Group, 2021; Lee et al., 2002). To this day, the South African government is putting forward legislation that attempts to empower indigenous peoples. However, restitution of taken land has been slow (Minority Rights Group, 2015b). Even with the Khomani San receiving land back from the South African government, white South Africans, currently making up 14% of the population, own 80% of all farmlands in the country. displaying that black South Africans continue to be a marginalized population (Freedom House, 2013).

South Africa’s San people suffered from forced away and there is evidence to support this. The data quality is a 2 because there are plenty of reliable, quality sources with evidence relating to the forcing away of the San people but not many journal articles.

Sources

  1. Dehkordi, S. (2020). Segregation, inequality, and urban development: Forced evictions and criminalization practices in present day South Africa. Edition Politik, 99. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839453100
  2. IPACC The Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (2021). Southern Africa. https://www.ipacc.org.za/southern-africa/
  3. Lee, R., Hitchcock, R. & Biesele, M. (2002). Foragers to first peoples: The Kalahari San today. Cultural Survival. http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/foragers-first-peoples-kalahari-san-today
  4. Minority Rights Group (2021). San. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/san/
  5. Minority Rights (2018). San. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/san-2/
  6. Minority Rights Group. (2016). South Africa. https://www.refworld.org/docid/5796082013.html
  7. Minority Rights Group. (2015b) South Africa. https://minorityrights.org/country/south-africa/
  8. Refworld (2013). Freedom in the world 2013 – South Africa. Freedom House. Retrieved from https://www.refworld.org/docid/5194a2ee5dc.html
  9. Siyabona Africa (2021). San. https://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_bushmen.html
  10. SAHO South African History Online (2021). The San. https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/san
  11. The New Humanitarian (2004). Discrimination and dependence—The plight of the San. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2004/02/02/discrimination-and-dependence-plight-san
  12. York, G. (2016). Once close to extinction, South Africa’s first people have a new claim on life. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/how-africas-first-people-are-hunting-for-theirfuture/article33345214/