Cultural Affairs and Sport
Question by:
Hon Galil Brinkhuis
Answered by:
Hon Anroux Marais
Question Number:
9
Question Body:
- Whether it has been bought to her attention that the Samekoms Khoisan organisation has been prohibited by a company, whose name has been furnished to her Depart-ment for the purpose of her reply, from entering land in Tokai belonging to the Province; if so,
- whether she could intervene to allow the organisation access to its ancestral land; if so, what are the relevant details?
Answer Body:
The matter came to the attention of the Minister through a media inquiry and an article in the Cape Times on 2 February 2021.
(2) whether she could intervene to allow the organisation access to its ancestral land; if so, what are the relevant details?
Answer:
In respect of rights of communities to access ancestral land, under the landownership of another party, the National Heritage Resources Act (NHRA) does not provide absolute rights for communities to access sacred sites. Ss. 27(19) and (21) and 42(9)(e) all talk about public access but only with consent of the owner. There may be a scenario where an agreement could be reached with the landowner spelling out the conditions of access, but such is not specified in the NHRA.
Date:
Friday, February 5, 2021
