PRESS REPORTS

Khoi and San win round 2 in River Club battle

Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath had in March granted the interdict, saying that the fact that the development has economic benefits can never override the fundamental rights of the First Nations People – which was under threat if the development was allowed to proceed. This was after the Observatory Civic Association (OCA) and the Goringhaicona…

Plans for community hub at derelict Salt River site

Wesley Ford – 20 Jan 2022 The Salt River Heritage Society plans to build a community hub on a derelict plot it holds the lease on. The society secured the lease from the land’s trustees three months ago. “This plot has been derelict for over two decades, and we had a lengthy interaction with the…

Amazon’s colonial HQ in Cape Town must be stopped

Michael Kwet & Tshiamo Malatji – 26 Jan 2022 Last week, the Goringhaicona Khoi Khoi Indigenous Traditional Council (GKKITC) and the Observatory Civic Association (OCA) sought an interdict against the construction of new facilities in Observatory, Cape Town. The centrepiece of development is the Amazon headquarters, without which the project will not go forward. The…

Court Freezes Planned Amazon HQ in Cape Town on Historically Significant Site

Lisa Vives, Global Information Network – 24 Jan 2022 NEW YORK (IDN) — A massive new complex housing Amazon’s proposed South African headquarters along with a hotel and other businesses continues to face stiff opposition from indigenous Khoisan, environmental and community groups despite city officials already approving of construction of the nine-story construction. Opponents say…

Landmark River Club case tests heritage rights

Steve Kretzmann – 24 Jan 2022 – Judge Patricia Goliath is to rule on an urgent application to stop a R4.5 billion development on the River Club site in Observatory, Cape Town. – The development, which would include a regional headquarters for corporate giant Amazon, is opposed by the Observatory Civic Association and by the…

Khoi fight for Cape heritage rites

Mark Steenbok – 20 Jan 2022 Indigenous groups in Cape Town opposed to what they call a violent assault on their heritage say there was no meaningful public participation in the plans to build Amazon’s Africa headquarters. The US company is forging ahead with construction on the banks of the Liesbeek River in the city…

Pourquoi le nouveau QG africain d’Amazon fait polémique

Omar Lucien Koffi La construction du nouveau siège social africain d’Amazon en Afrique du Sud a été arrêté. Des représentants de deux groupes ethniques ont porté plainte. Selon les Khoi et les San, le QG empiète sur un territoire sacré. Les représentants des descendants des premiers habitants d’Afrique du Sud, les Khoi et les San,…

Liesbeek development: “This is a case of global importance”

The Goringhaicona Khoi Khoi Indigenous Traditional Council (GKKITC) and the Observatory Civic Association (OCA) sought an interdict against the proposed Liesbeek development. This is what is currently happening with the case. From January 19-21, the campaign’s interdict was heard in the Cape Town high court. The interdict seeks to stop the development of 150 000…

Heritage land dispute over Amazon’s new Africa HQ goes to court

Tim Cocks – 19 Jan 2022 Groups representing the descendants of SA’s earliest inhabitants, the Khoi and San, went to court on Wednesday to try to halt construction of Amazon’s new 70,000-square metre Africa headquarters on land they regard as sacred. The culturally-intertwined San and Khoi were the first inhabitants of SA. The former lived…

Why South Africa should cancel Amazon’s new HQ

Michael Kwet – 18 Jan 2022 On January 19, Amazon faces a major court showdown over the construction of its new headquarters in Cape Town, South Africa. The Indigenous Khoi and San peoples, environmentalists and other activists are asking the South African High Court to interdict the project, which sits on ancestral Indigenous land and…