San leader highlights plight of his people

SAN people deserved to be buried in dignity like other Namibians and not wrapped in plastic, a member of the San community said yesterday.

There was a rare moment of attentive silence in the National Assembly as Royal /Ui/o/oo of the San community rose to speak about the plight of his people. He addressed the issue during debate on a motion by DTA President Katuutire Kaura that coffins be provided for the San so that their dead need not be buried in plastic bags, as happened at present.His people were the original inhabitants of southern Africa more than 25 000 years ago, /Ui/o/oo said, but today they were struggling to live a decent life and were “at the bottom level of abject poverty”.There is no question about it and I am willing to prove it in front of cameras,” he added.There were several non-governmental organisations, which claimed to represent marginalised groups like the San, but they should fulfil their social responsibilities and obligations as stipulated in their manifestos.”There are also companies which use the San minority to obtain permits and other concessionary rights like fishing quotas, but after obtaining those rights, the San people are pushed away.That is why the San are still poor and live under deplorable conditions,” /Ui/o/oo told the House.Such organisations and companies should be reined in so that they could properly improve the conditions of the San.Minorities such as the San and Ovahimba were uneducated and illiterate and because of this they were often exploited “left, right and centre”./Ui/o/oo then set the record straight with regard to the allegations he said he had to hear over and over again in the past years that only San people had served in the apartheid South African security forces during the liberation struggle.”I will fail in my duty as a national leader of my people if I do not set the record straight on that (and state that) it was not only the San who worked for the Pretoria colonial regime as trackers and soldiers,” the Swapo MP emphasised.”What about the Okavangos, the Boers, who were in the forefront, the Damaras, Coloureds and Ovahimbas who were soldiers and the Owambos who were soldiers and even (members of) Koevoet.I will admit that the San people were misled by the then South African defence forces as soldiers, but they were not Koevoet,” he explained.It worried him a lot to always hear that only the San people served South African security forces as if other tribes were not involved, and people should refrain from saying that because the Namibian Government had adopted the policy of national reconciliation, he concluded.He addressed the issue during debate on a motion by DTA President Katuutire Kaura that coffins be provided for the San so that their dead need not be buried in plastic bags, as happened at present.His people were the original inhabitants of southern Africa more than 25 000 years ago, /Ui/o/oo said, but today they were struggling to live a decent life and were “at the bottom level of abject poverty”.There is no question about it and I am willing to prove it in front of cameras,” he added.There were several non-governmental organisations, which claimed to represent marginalised groups like the San, but they should fulfil their social responsibilities and obligations as stipulated in their manifestos.”There are also companies which use the San minority to obtain permits and other concessionary rights like fishing quotas, but after obtaining those rights, the San people are pushed away.That is why the San are still poor and live under deplorable conditions,” /Ui/o/oo told the House.Such organisations and companies should be reined in so that they could properly improve the conditions of the San.Minorities such as the San and Ovahimba were uneducated and illiterate and because of this they were often exploited “left, right and centre”./Ui/o/oo then set the record straight with regard to the allegations he said he had to hear over and over again in the past years that only San people had served in the apartheid South African security forces during the liberation struggle.”I will fail in my duty as a national leader of my people if I do not set the record straight on that (and state that) it was not only the San who worked for the Pretoria colonial regime as trackers and soldiers,” the Swapo MP emphasised.”What about the Okavangos, the Boers, who were in the forefront, the Damaras, Coloureds and Ovahimbas who were soldiers and the Owambos who were soldiers and even (members of) Koevoet.I will admit that the San people were misled by the then South African defence forces as soldiers, but they were not Koevoet,” he explained.It worried him a lot to always hear that only the San people served South African security forces as if other tribes were not involved, and people should refrain from saying that because the Namibian Government had adopted the policy of national reconciliation, he concluded.