By Zenzile Khoisan On Monday, 26 March 20012, more than 30 leaders from within the ranks of the Western Cape First Nation Indigenous movement met at the Cape Town City Lodge with representatatives of the Department of Traditional Affairs. The meeting was chaired by Mr Cecil LeFleur, leader of the Griqua National Convention, who also currently serves as chairman of the National KhoiSan Council (NKC). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the feelings of the Western Cape Khoi and Boesman (San) leaders toward the Traditional Affairs Bill on which the Parliament and the National Council of Provinces will soon deliberate. The meeting was also called to assess the current situation among Khoisan communities on the ground whose lives will, in numerous ways, be affected by the bill if and when it is passed by Parliament and becomes law. Another major objective of the meeting was to discuss the current status of the National KhoiSan Council and to chart a collective and unified way forward. During the deliberations, which started at 10am and continued to the late afternoon, several pertinent concerns were raised, including: That the bill in its current form is not acceptable to a significant majority of KhoiSan leaders, who raised these concerns directly during the public consultation phase That the process of consultation about the bill was inadequate That the process of consultation should have been more thorough That the bill in its current form could have a counter-productive effect, by causing futher marginalisation and eroding of the rights of communities and people of First Nation Indigenous descent That the NKC’s mandate, as a non-statutary body was nearing its end, and that there was a need for a new, unified structure that would have to engage government and build awareness among people of First Nation Indigenous descent That declarations of the United Nations such as the September 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People did not have the necessary force and authority to compel governments who voted for the declaration to implement the spirit and letter of this declaration That this declaration could merely be used as a moral instrument to get governments and states to comply, but that an enforceable instrument such as a convention (like the Geneva Convention) is much more desirable as it could enforce compliance or effect penalties for non-compliance The meeting, after deliberations without the NKC and Department of Traditional Affairs delegations, then resolved that: A new structure will be formed, which would engage government inside and outside parliament and other legislative forums, irrespective of whether or not the bill becomes law The new structure will be named the First Nation Legislative Convention All structures, groups, organisations, cultural houses, cultural leadership and comunities on the ground would be welcome to be a part of and play a role in this structure Membership and participation in the First Nation Legislative Forum does not mean giving up autonomy of the groups or structures to which members belong It will serve as a unifying force among people and communities of First Nation Indigenous descent It will be a structure that will have to be funded by government, to bring together the leadership from across the country in forums where the status of of the Khoi and Boesman (San) could be discussed in national or regional meetings The Department of Traditional Affairs should urgently address the concerns raised by the convention The First Nation Legislative Convention formed in Cape Town on 26 March 2012, should serve as an example to all other regions of how – placing the interests and aspirations of our people first – concrete steps toward a unified approach can challenge the excuses often raised by politicians, that indigenous people are not united Print Top