A group of Khoi activists brought traffic to a standstill in the streets of Knysna as they made their way to the magistrate’s court to support two community members who had been arrested for malicious damage to a property.
Charles Froechlick and his mother, Maria Roman, appeared in court on Monday.
They were arrested on December 18 2020 after they allegedly damaged windows and doors of a property in Dam-se-Bos near Nekkies earmarked for housing development.
The mother and son claim the land belongs to them. The damages amounted to R7,320.
While the two opted to conduct their own defence on Monday, the case was postponed to Tuesday after Roman was unable to continue due to her being overwhelmed by her emotions.
Speaking on behalf of the group outside court, Chief Neville Korkee said they had gathered to make a statement to the courts.
“We are the first nation of SA and the way the government treats us is unfair,” Korkee said.
“We are here today because two of our guys were arrested by the Knysna municipality and the police.
“The soil that they were arrested on belongs to the people and there is a paper trail to that effect.
“The least that the municipality can do is to give them houses that they have built on their land.”
The group also handed over a memorandum of demands to SA Police Service representative Captain Lindiswa Magudu, ward councillor Waleed Grootboom and Knysna Magistrate’s Court manager Buyiswa Mayekiso.
Among the demands was renaming the town to reflect its Khoi heritage and upgrading the Knysna river for cultural purposes.
The group further demanded that funding be availed to develop their land.
“To teach our children to plant, our lands lie fallow and uncultivated, while our people are hungry and without work, in a kingdom,” the memorandum read.
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