17 JAN 2022 —
Today we saw the appearance of poles along the Liesbeek signalling that the developers are likely to close off the original Liesbeek river from public access, presumably as a prelude to infilling the river course. The interdict hearing could therefore not have arrived a day too soon. We hope the judge will put a stop to this horrible destruction of the environment and annihilation of Khoi heritage.
Ironically, the former Minister of Water and Sanitation, in her recent blistering and widely condemned attack on the constitution, bemoaned the lack of attention to customary law and indigenous rights under what she framed as colonial legal systems. However, she is the same minister who gave the River Club developers a helping hand to destroy Khoi heritage by uplifting the suspension of the Water Use License triggered by our appeal, which is yet to be heard by the Water Tribunal. Even more ironic is that she is helping, Amazon, the wealthiest corporation in the world establish its headquarters on a floodplain that is sacred to indigenous people. How colonial can that be?…