Khoisan get a break on eviction to bury their queen

It’s a challenging time for the Khoisan group living outside Union Buildings in Pretoria with eviction looming and their queen having died recently.

Queen Khoisan SA, Cynthia Triagaardt, 54, died over a week ago in a car accident.

One of the group, Willem Plaatjies, said yesterday they were uncertain about the future after receiving the eviction notice on 11 December, 2024 to vacate the premises within 30 days.

Queen Khoisan died in car accident

“However, on 10 January the Khoisan king SA was involved in an accident outside Colesberg on the way back to Pretoria which claimed the queen’s life,” he said.

Plaatjies said that fortunately, the public works department had postponed the eviction so that the king could recover and arrange his late wife’s funeral.

Plaatjies said they had been waiting for President Cyril Ramaphosa to address them since they arrived at the Union Buildings’ gardens in 2018 to fight for the Khoisan to receive first-nation recognition.

ALSO READ: Khoisan SA Queen Cynthia Triegardt dies, Khoisan and supporters in mourning

They also want the Khoisan language to be made an official language and for the coloured identity to be scrapped.

Plaatjies said the coloured label symbolised to them that they were inhuman and did not belong.

“This is Elandskraal. This piece of land is very significant to us because the eland is one the animals we look up to,” he said.

‘This is Elandskraal’

Plaatjies said they were not bothering anybody and tried to live off the vegetable garden and keep to themselves.

“We have everything from carrots, potatoes, pumpkins, butternuts, coal, onions and all the spices and more,” he said.

Plaatjies said the group got meat from the community or bought it from supermarkets as they could not hunt on the Union Buildings’ grounds.

ALSO READ: Khoisan: ‘We were here first’

Since they started living in the gardens, there had only been one incident when a man dressed in Zulu attire fought with one of the chief’s guests about two years ago, he said.

“In general, we get good feedback from the public and tourists who understand our cause,” he said.

Plaatjies said they got on well with the staff working in the garden because they had made it clear from the start that the fight was against the government and not them.

‘They cannot remove us forcefully’

“They cannot remove us forcefully because it is against their own constitution and Bill of Rights,” he said.

Plaatjies added that the government had no land to relocate them to, either.

“I couldn’t imagine not living here.

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“Sometimes we get to see the sunrise and the moon at the same time.

“It’s indescribable,” he said.

Public works spokesperson Lennox Mabaso said: ”Out of respect – because of the tragedy that has happened to the family –we are refraining from speaking about the eviction for now.

Department allowing them to grieve

“We want to allow them to grieve.

“We understand that they are preparing for the queen’s burial,” he added.