Tribe takes on government over 'unfair discrimination'

A Cape Times report says the tribe was among a number of Khoi groups who met the department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs at the weekend. They walked out of the meeting because they felt some of their concerns had fallen on deaf ears. Kutsokua spokesperson Avron Sheldon Januarie said they had approached the Equality Court to compel the government to abide by international legislation and resolutions on the rights of indigenous peoples. Their concern was that the government and Constitution did not give the Khoisan 'first nation' status and did not recognise their indigenous language as an official language. They also claimed that they had been excluded from the Traditional Leaders and Governance Framework Act of 2003. Full Cape Times report (subscription needed)

The Khoisan Aboriginal and Others Movement (KAOM) has also approached the Equality Court to bring a case against Zuma and the Minister and Deputy Minister of Defence for alleged discrimination against Khoisan descendants who served in the SADF but were not integrated into the SANDF. According to a Cape Times report, KAOM leader Hendry Rodney January claimed the case became inevitable after 16 years of failed negotiations with the government. January claimed he represented at least 65 000 former soldiers excluded from joining the new armed forces, unlike members of the ANC's Umkhonto we Sizwe or PAC's Azanian People's Liberation Army. KAOM alleges the government discriminated against its members in terms of Section 8 of the Constitution, other legislation and the UN Resolution on the Protection of Indigenous Peoples. Full Cape Times report (subscription needed)