Regional Assessment of the Status of the San in Southern Africa
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Regional Assessment of the Status of the San in Southern Africa An Introduction to the Regional Assessment of the Status of the San in Southern Africa James Suzman Legal Assistance Centre AN INTRODUCTION TO THE REGIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF THE SAN IN SOUTHERN AFRICA i REGIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF THE SAN IN SOUTHERN AFRICA REPORT SERIES • Report No. 1 of 5 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE REGIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF THE SAN IN SOUTHERN AFRICA James Suzman LEGAL ASSISTANCE CENTRE (LAC) Windhoek • April 2001 ii REGIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF THE SAN IN SOUTHERN AFRICA © Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) 2001 Any part of this publication may be reproduced for educational or academic purposes, on condition that the authors, the publisher and the financial contribution of the European Community to the Regional Assessment of the Status of the San in Southern Africa are acknowledged. First printed April 2001 Printed by John Meinert Printing, Windhoek Publisher’s contact details: Street address: 4 Körner Street, Windhoek Postal address: PO Box 604, Windhoek, Republic of Namibia Telephone: (+264) (+61) 223356 Fax: 234953 E-mail address: legal@iafrica.com.na Web site: http://www.lac.org.na ISBN 99916-765-3-8 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE REGIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF THE SAN IN SOUTHERN AFRICA i PREFACE At the 22nd Session of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly held in Windhoek in March 1996, a resolution was passed recognising the “special difficulties encountered in integrating hunting and gathering peoples in agricultural industrial states”, and calling for “a comprehensive study of the San people … in the light of international conventions”. To this end it was decided that a study titled A Regional Assessment of the Status of the San in Southern Africa would be conducted, with funding from the European Union (EU). With a view to implementing the project, the EU commissioned Prof. Sidsel Saugestad at the University of Tromsø to prepare an inception report incorporating a broad work plan and budget. This report was revised in Windhoek in late 1998 by the implementing agency, the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC), and implementation commenced following the exchange of contracts between the LAC and EU in January 1999. A project co-ordinator was formally appointed in the same month, and a total of ten researchers were contracted to conduct the research and prepare a report on their findings. The outcome of the study is a series of five reports. This first report in the series provides a general introduction to some key findings and issues identified and discussed in the larger and considerably more detailed second, third and fourth reports in the series, which are country-specific reports on the situation of San in South Africa, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe (combined in one volume), Botswana and Namibia. The fifth report is the outcome of a specialist consultancy commissioned as part of the study to focus on gender issues in relation to San. The study as a whole was made possible by a contribution from budget line B7-6200/98-13/ENV/VIII of the European Community (EC). All opinions expressed in the study report series are the opinions of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the EC, nor of the LAC. James Suzman Study Co-ordinator Windhoek January 2001 ii REGIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF THE SAN IN SOUTHERN AFRICA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A great many people contributed to ensuring the success of the Regional Assessment of the Status of the San in Southern Africa. I particularly wish to thank the researchers who contributed to the study, the staff at the Legal Assistance Centre in Windhoek and the European Commission’s delegation in Namibia for their respective invaluable contributions. My special thanks also to the members of the study advisory group for their tireless efforts, especially in ensuring that the regional reports are of a high quality. Thanks are due to the editorial team comprised of Pierre du Plessis, William Hofmeyer and Perri Caplan, who produced the final drafts and print-ready copies of all the texts. I am very grateful to Prof. Sidsel Saugestad of the University of Tromsø, who prepared the inception report as well as the bibliographic review contained in this introduction to the study. I am also grateful to the staff and members of the various NGOs and CBOs approached for information and advice, who were always very helpful. Finally, the authors, the Legal Assistance Centre and the European Commission wish to thank the many San communities, leaders and representatives visited, for being gracious and informative hosts throughout. James Suzman AN INTRODUCTION TO THE REGIONAL ASSESSMENT OF THE STATUS OF THE SAN IN SOUTHERN AFRICA iii CONTENTS FIGURES AND TABLES ..................................................................................................................................... iv ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1 THE SAN OF SOUTHERN AFRICA .....................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................1 1.1.1 Historical overview..........................................................................................................................2 1.2 Who are the San?....................................................................................................................................3 1.2.1 Changing identity ............................................................................................................................4 1.2.2 How many San are there?...............................................................................................................4 1.3 Regional perspectives ............................................................................................................................7 1.3.1 Dependency ...................................................................................................................................8 1.3.2 Poverty...........................................................................................................................................9 1.3.3 Land, identity and empowerment...................................................................................................10 1.3.4 Land and conservation..................................................................................................................13 1.3.5 Education .....................................................................................................................................17 1.3.6 Capacity .......................................................................................................................................18 1.3.7 Culture and adaptation..................................................................................................................18 CHAPTER 2 GOVERNMENT, POLICY, NGOs AND COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS ..............................20 2.1 Introduction...........................................................................................................................................20 2.1.1 Conferences and commitments .....................................................................................................20 2.2 Policy regarding San.............................................................................................................................20 2.2.1 Botswana .....................................................................................................................................21 2.2.2 Namibia........................................................................................................................................23 2.2.3 South Africa..................................................................................................................................23 2.3 Implementation, representation and participation ...............................................................................23 2.3.1 Representation .............................................................................................................................23 2.3.2 Participation..................................................................................................................................24 2.3.3 Material resources ........................................................................................................................25 2.4 International perspectives ....................................................................................................................25 2.4.1 International resolutions, conventions and covenants .....................................................................26 2.5 Non-governmental initiatives................................................................................................................30 2.5.1 Networking and advocacy .............................................................................................................31 2.5.2 San speak for themselves .............................................................................................................32 CHAPTER 3 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...........................................................................34 3.1 Indigenous rights and human rights