They call us dumb fools – San chief

The leader of the San community in the Omaheke Region, Chief Frederick Langman of the #Kao //Aesi traditional authority, has accused government of dumping his people at the Skoonheid resettlement farm and mistreating them.What’s most painful, he said, is that ‘Bushmen’ are treated “like dumb people who know nothing”, yet they have been living and farming in these areas for a long time.According to him, many of the San community members were forced off the resettlement farm to find refuge in Gobabis, where they ended up dying before their time of alcohol-related ailments.“I was born here, we worked here. All the people on these farms were Bushmen and they have died now. Now, the Owambo people are brought in here and the Ovaherero are also now farming in the area, and we are seen as foolish and stupid people,” he said.During a meeting with the chairperson of the National Council, Lukas Sinimbo, the chief said they have only been given the resettlement farm in name, because the lands ministry still runs the farm while its officials ‘boss them around’.“We have even written to the lands ministry and the president [Hage Geingob], but up to now, there has been no reply. We are Bushmen and we are dumb - this is what we are told by government officials,” the chief said.‘Painful story’“This is a painful story. We are given pieces of land and when I went to Epikuro, I was warned and told I must first speak to the chief of the Ovambanderu. But the Ovaherero people who come here, how do they come here? Why don’t they come to me and seek permission to settle here?"When I must have San people settled in other areas, I must first consult with their leaders,” he lamented.He added that when more San people want to settle at the Skoonheid farm, they are told that the farm is full, but when Ovaherero people seek land there, they are allowed to settle with their cattle.Langman said he is still waiting for a response to the letter he wrote in August.“It is a painful story of how we relate to each other. There is a problem with access to water. Where I am settled, there is a borehole and if the pump does not work, I have to travel somewhere else, and the pump belongs to someone else.“I cut the fence where I saw people moving through to go and get the water and the owner, an Ovaherero person, reported me to the police, who came to warn me. But this land has apparently been given to us,” he said.jemima@namibiansun.com

They call us dumb fools – San chief

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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They call us dumb fools – San chief

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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