The Paper's reporter Nan Boyi intern Wang Yuhao
Recently, South African police uprooted marijuana grown by indigenous Khoisan activists near the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa in the administrative capital Pretoria and arrested a man who identified himself as "King Khoisan."
The BBC reported on Jan. 12 that the cannabis belonged to activists in the Koisan community, some of whom had been camping in the area near the president's office for three years. The arrested men were their leaders, calling themselves "King Khoisan".
"King Koisan" was dragged away by the South African police
Since 2018, the group has set up tents in a lawn clearing outside the president's office, one just metres away from the giant bronze statue of South Africa's late former president, Nelson Mandela.
They claimed that they had done so in order to negotiate with President Ramaphosa on issues such as the recognition of their land, language and restoration of their identity.
On January 12, King Koisan and some activists were detained for trading marijuana, illegally growing and cultivating marijuana, and failing to wear masks in public when ordered by police, AFP reported. South Africa has legalized the use of marijuana by individuals in private settings in 2018, but still does not allow the use of marijuana in public places, in front of children or in the presence of an adult without consent.
As the police dragged "King Koisan" away, he clutched a large plant of marijuana and shouted, "You have declared war." ”
Queen Cynthia, the wife of King Koisan, expressed her anger at the incident in an interview, according to the South African IOL news website.
When the "king" was arrested, she said, the marijuana had been there for about three years.
"King Khoisan" in a vegetable garden near the president's office.
"I'm very angry." She added, "We've always been here and Ramaphosa never took a minute to settle or acknowledge our presence, but they now brought in police to torture us." ”
The Koisans are the oldest ethnic group in South Africa, but they are now a minority in Africa. The Khoisans were formerly known as bushmen or hottentots, a name coined by Dutch colonists in the 17th century.
Since the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994, south Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress Party (ANC), has embarked on redistribution of land, but this process has largely excluded the Khoisans, who do not recognize them as indigenous to the country and whose land was largely occupied before the apartheid era. In response, there is now a growing number of Khoisan activists demanding that the government change the status quo.
Editor-in-Charge: Hu Zhenqing Photo Editor: Jin Jie
Proofreader: Yan Zhang