Unofficial leaders are extracting “registration fees” from thousands of poor South Africans with the promise of a Khoisan reparations payout that may never arrive.
Affected community leaders say some people used their social grant money to register as members of the Khoisan nation, despite continued contestation about Khoisan leadership.
The fees have sparked an outcry amid delays in including the Khoisan in the country's traditional leadership structures. The Khoisan, considered South Africa's “First People”, do not receive the same perks as, for example, the Zulu and Xhosa royal houses.
There is also confusion over several competing leadership claims, with one self-proclaimed leader, who also collected funds, insisting she had annexed the whole of Southern Africa.
This week:
• Anthony Andrews, the paramount chief of the Guriqua nation, alleged he was repeatedly threatened after raising concerns about a registration fee drive in his area purportedly led by an umbrella organisation, the First Indigenous Nation of Southern Africa (Finsa).
• Finsa lodged a case of discrimination and inequality based on race classification with the equality court. Finsa chair, Gregg Fick, promised about 50,000 followers individual payouts of R4.5m, a sum based on the value of the successful District Six land restitution case.
• Finsa’s former deputy chair, MK Party MP Glen Taaibosch, raised concerns about poor people being exploited. “It has now become a moneymaking scheme and our poor people are clearly being asked to pay money they cannot afford,” he said. “They now have to pay monthly fees of R20 and the initial one-off application form, which used to cost R20, is now up to R150.
“We are not sure where this money goes. I believe Greg Fick meant well when he started out with this initiative and I really cannot tell you where it went wrong,” he added.
Nevertheless, he believes in the equality court case. “I still think we have a valid claim because of all the glaring inequalities facing the coloured child.”
The case was registered in 2023 and a judge was allocated last year.
Andrews said he was threatened after cautioning people against questionable claims by self-proclaimed leaders. “I warned people against these people, but they started attacking and threatening me.
“Organisations pop up and claim they are royal houses, then they come to the community, some of them, as political organisations. Some of them are NGOs and some are faith organisations, which have nothing to do with tribal councils,” he said.
Lamberts Bay resident Anthony Vaughn said many in his community used grant money to pay their Finsa registration fee.
“Every few months they [Finsa] come. First it was R20 that we had to give, then it became R40, then R50. Then they started asking for additional. Now we must start contributing for the advocate and the court cases.”
He said since 2022 the community was led to believe a portion would be paid out (before the court ruling). “We don’t even know how it works.”
“You must understand that 90% of the people here are unemployed and are using Sassa money to pay for this. Our people don’t have any information about the equality court claims — we believe because of the hope,” he said.
Fick insisted the equality court matter was a major milestone in the battle to seek redress for impoverished Khoisan communities. He said the Khoisan Nation comprised many separate groupings and had the right to self-determination, backed by the UN, independently of the South African government.
Fick denied Finsa was exploiting poor communities and laid the blame for false promises on rogue individuals. He said Finsa had expelled several individuals, including Andrews and Taaibosch, due to alleged misconduct. “People who have made those promises [of payouts] are not Finsa.
Fick said Finsa had every right to represent the broader interests of the Khoisan community, and to ask for donations from those who could afford to help fund the case. “Finsa has taken the initiative to go into all the areas, to send out messages to inform our people. We have a case and the equality court will decide on how much money will be paid out.”
Fick denounced spurious claims made by self-styled Empress Valerie van Wyk, who recently surprised many when she claimed to have annexed Southern Africa, all of its resources, and part of Antarctica. She and assistants have raised money for “Khoisan ID cards”.
Van Wyk previously told the Sunday Times the claims were based on her royal bloodline but did not respond this week to queries.
Khoisan leaders are fighting for equal treatment in all spheres, including land restitution. A large tract of government-owned land outside Grabouw was recently occupied by various groups claiming allegiance to different Khoisan royal households.
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