Who are the First Indigenous People of Southern Africa

History to the South African child only speaks of a People who travelled across the World. Challenged the raging seas and fought
against the most barbaric and demonic humanlike beings. These conquerors and travellers were the civilized people who travelled
to distant lands to Civilized the whole World. And to civilize these uncivilized “Bastaards”, they were forced to commit the most
uncivilized, barbaric and inhumane acts upon these beings the found living on the Land they came to conquer.

The presence of the Homo Sapiens or wise people, some 2.3 million years ago was confirmed by the discovery in 1924 of a
child’s skull at Taung, 70 kms south of Vryburg. There is abundance of evidence that the oldest civilisation on Planet Earth is in
Southern Africa, where the First Indigenous and Aboriginal People came to be known as our Khoikhoi and San. The Aboriginal
and Indigenous Khoikhoi and San People hold the oldest known human DNA, and therefore by right we call them the First
indigenous people of Southern Africa and the “First People”. “Indigenous people are generally considered those peoples who
inhabited a country or geo-graphical region at the time when people from other Countries or Lands or of different cultures or
ethnic origins arrived on their Land.

The Aboriginal and Indigenous Khoikhoi and San of Southern Africa were 'written out' of history and through Genocide, slavery
and oppression, suffered in life to such an extent that their own story were buried deliberate by their Oppressors and the claims of
dominant groups who came to settle on their Lands. The Khoi –khoin and San according to indepth research lived in Southern
Africa over thousands of that long years. The wisdom of the aboriginal Khoi-khoin and San Africans is evident in their vast
knowledge and expertise of the entire environment of Southern Africa in particular their indepth knowledge of all the plants and
animals of the region. Their wisdom is also reflected in their unique rockart that tells their stories found all over this region and
dating back thousands of years. It is these First Indigenous and Aboriginal so called “Coloureds” who were through Apartheid
Discriminatory Laws were classified as so called “Coloureds”. ( “Wetgewing1950 Artikel 30 – Bevolkings Regristrasie Wet”
Hierdie wetgewing het die Inheemse mense, die Khoikhoi en /Xam (San), effektief beroof deur hulle onder die diskriminerende
naam van KLEURLINGE te klassifiseer.
Dit is geskraap in 1991 deur Oud President FW De Klerk. Die Wetgewing erken dat die Klassifisering “KLEURLING” is ‘n
neerhalende term en bevat gen menswaardigheid, intergiteit en menslikheid nie. Volgens die Apartheids geleerdesbeteken die
term KLEURLING; Gemors, nie – mens, nie volk, nie gemaak deur God en minder as ‘n ding!)

In 1950 the then Apartheid Regime enacted the Populations Act. of 1950 Art.30 and classified all the Khoikhoi and San people
and their descendants as “Kleurlinge” so called “Coloureds”. This discriminating classification and Act of 1950 was repealed in
1991 by the then President FW De Klerk but are still being used discriminately here in South Africa with the sole purpose of
robbing them from their Rights to the Land and Resources thereof. ‘Coloureds’ were grouped into seven categories, in the
following order.
(Here, in terms of the Population Registration Act of 1950, Asiatics are regarded as ‘coloureds’.)
1. Cape coloured
2. Malay
3. Griqua,
4. Chinese
5. Indian
6. ‘other’ Asiatic (Asian)
7. ‘other’ coloured.

The Pensions Act No. 22 of 1928 to define the ‘coloureds’ as a statutory group within the South African setting. The Act reads as
follows:
A Coloured is someone who is neither;
a. a Turk or a member of a race or tribe in Asia nor
b. a member of an aboriginal race or tribe in Africa nor
c. a Hottentot, Bushman or Koranna nor
d. a person residing in a native location ...nor
e. an American negro.

The ‘coloureds’ are defined in the following manner under this Proclamation of 1967:
The Cape Coloured Group shall consist of persons who in fact are, or who, except in the case of persons who, in fact, are members
of race or class or tribe referred to in paragraph ...are generally accepted as members of the race or class known as the Cape
Coloured. The unemployment rate amongst the so called “Coloured” Communities in South Africa and the surge of Gangsterism
and Crime which is directly caused by the great and severe poverty levels in these said so called “Coloured Communities” are
unprecedented.

The Khoikhoi and San People are survivors of colonialism, apartheid, and assimilation of their Identity. “Khoikhoi and San”
Indigenous Languages are not recognized to the point of near extinction. It is these Khoikhoi and San People of Southern Africa
that by Sovereign Birthright constitutes the First Indigenous Nation of Southern Africa (FINSA). The First Indigenous Nation of
Southern Africa (FINSA) is an Internationally Recognized Nation by various International, National and Local Organizations and
States. FINSA has received full Membership and Privileges from the OEAS- Organization of Emerging African States and various
other International Organizations and First Nation Peoples. The current FINSA NEC under the Leadership of Dr. Gregg Fick,
Danab Gaob F’im have taken the plight of the Indigenous and Aboriginal Khoikhoi and San, so called Coloureds to an
International and national level are the biggest Movement in South Africa that are advocating for the Human Rights of the so
called Coloureds.

It is not only indigenous peoples’ customs, culture, history, language, and traditions that are important, but also their spiritual
connection to their ancestral lands. Indigenous rights are framed in an international context by the 2007 United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). While South Africa and 143 other nations voted in favour of
the Declaration, we agree that land transformation is a matter that needs to be urgently address to address the past injustices of
colonialism and apartheid committed against Indigenous people and other inhabitants of the land we also believe that one cannot
replace one injustice with another. We believe that to find peace in the country we also need justice and the form and nature of the
justice must be restorative and leads to peace and stability. Peace and justice in the South African context means that the rights of
Indigenous People, in particular the Khoikhoi and San in South Africa, should form the basis of restorative justice and an integral
part of nation building.

The moral underpinning of indigenous land rights lies in the cultural, historical, emotional, social, economic, and “spiritual
relationship that indigenous peoples have with their ancestral lands.” Without access to their ancestral lands, indigenous peoples
are stripped of an element of their cultural identity. Article 25 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (“UN
Declaration”) notes that “[i]ndigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with
their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal sea and other resources and to
uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard.”12 The moral legitimacy of their rights lies in indigenous
peoples’ traditional connection with the lands they inhabit or used to inhabit. Indigenous peoples understand property as a group
right, not as individual rights.13 The South Africa Government has a responsibility to dialogue meaningfully with Indigenous
communities, and section 25(6) of the Constitution protects people whose tenure is legally vulnerably because of past racially
discriminatory laws and practices. Article 10 of the UNDRIP further affirms that Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly
removed from their lands and must provide free and informed consent or receive just and fair compensation. The South Africa
Government like all other States has obligations to ensure indigenous peoples’ enjoyment of land rights. States’ obligations to
respect indigenous land rights obliges states to refrain from interfering in the enjoyment of indigenous land rights.113 This rule
derives from the ancient Roman principle sic utere tuo ut alterum non laedes.114

The UN Declaration provides in Article 26(1) that “States shall give legal recognition to land, territories and resources.”122 The
third paragraph of Article 26 thereafter notes that “[s]tates shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and
resources. Such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the
indigenous peoples concerned.”123

Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the
assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. Nearly all jurisdictions are in agreement that aboriginal title is inalienable,
and that it may be held either individually or collectively. Aboriginal Title refers to the inherent Aboriginal right to land or a
territory. Article 26 of the United Declaration on the rights of Indigenous People states that Indigenous peoples have the right to
the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired. FINSA
incontrovertibly are the only People who can demand these rights and privileges as the First Indigenous People of Southern
Africa.

South Africa will never have peace while the Rights of the descendants of the First Indigenous and Aboriginal Khoikhoi and San,
so called “Coloured” People are neglected and taken from them.

Compiled by
Danab Gaob F’im
Dr. Gregg Steven Fick
FINSA NEC