San community members at Palasa, Eenhana, say although most of them are registered to vote, they have lost hope in the government as their plights have been ignored for years.
More than 200 San people live at homesteads (Omapundo) in makeshift shelters made out of cardboard boxes, plastic bags and zinc sheets.
The families are comprised of small children, men and women of all ages and many pregnant teens.
Despite their poverty, the number of mouths to feed is only increasing as young girls are constantly giving birth.
While visiting the community, young and old can be seen sitting under a tree to shelter from the scorching heat, hunger written on their faces. But it’s their way of life, they say.
“We are used to being hungry. There is no food, and even when there is food, it is not enough. We are t way too many,” expressed San elder Kandele Hangula. Hangula does not know exactly how old she is. She only knows to present her ID card to confirm her age when it is required.
She doesn’t keep it on her though. She says they have a care taker who keeps their documents until they are required. “We have been registered to vote earlier this month. We were all taken to a registration point by the lady who takes care of our documents. We got our cards and she is keeping them until elections,” Hangula says.
She says although the elders receive pension money each month and supply the homestead with maize meal, it does not last.
“There are only three pensioners here who buy maize meal, and then we have to go around and search for food in dustbins. Otherwise, we are used to fetching water in the location at cuca shops and in return we get fish intestines and gizzards which we cook to eat with maize meal,” says Hangula. Drought relief only comes every three months.
Helena Miipindi also cannot recall her age.
“We are tired of you people always coming here with your books and pens and give us nothing.
We have spoken about our plights for many years and yet nothing is done.
Look around here, it is deplorable, we need proper shelter, we need running water around here. There are no toilets. We fetch water from far away and we have to pay for it. As you can see now, the children are thirsty, “ she says.
When asked if they are aware of the benefits of voting, both young and old could not reply.
“We only know that we have to vote for a president.” centre Peneyambeko Kashidulike runs a day care at Palasa that most of the San children attend. She has been taking up the issue of the San people getting registered for national documents since 2022. “Most of the children attend my day care centre and that is how I became aware of the fact that they did not have any national documents. I took it upon myself to take them to home affairs and they applied for documents and I got the pensioners registered for pensions,” she says.
“Earlier this month, I took more than a hundred others to a nearby voter registration points and they got registered, “ says Kashidulike.
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