the richtersveld cultural and botanical landscape - SAHRA

Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site Nomination 106
5.a. Ownership
Prior to democratisation of South
Africa in 1994, the Richtersveld
Community Conservancy was
classified as a “coloured reserve”
of which there were 27 in the
Western Cape and Northern Cape
Province. In the case of the
Richtersveld, the largest of the
“coloured reserves”, the area is
sparsely populated mostly by
people of Nama origin, as well as
the so-called Bosluis Baster
people 8 The CPA
In 2001, the Richtersveld Community decided to
establish a legal entity known as the Richtersveld
Sida !hub Community Property Association (CPA)
with the objective of representing the residents of
the four Richtersveld villages (Kuboes, Lekkersing,
Sandrift and Eksteenfontein) and outlying areas in
their land claim, and managing the land restored to
the Richtersveld community under the land claims
process on behalf of its members, namely every
person 18 years and older from the community.
After acceptance of the CPA’s constitution on the
14th of February 2001, a CPA Committee was
established consisting of representatives elected at
separate village elections as well as appointees of
the Richtersveld Municipal Council. The CPA
constitution and the Communal Property
Association Act of 1996 govern the CPA
and Xhosa people that
Committee’s decision-making powers. The
constitution and the Act require community
previously worked on the state- participation. Aims of the CPA include
owned Alexkor Ltd diamond mine.
improvement of the infrastructure, development of
agriculture, tourism, and economic opportunities to
support job creation, and capacity building of
committee members so that they can make the right
In the post-1994 government an
act was passed known as the
decisions on behalf of the community.
Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act (Act 94 of 1998) that makes provision for
the ownership of such reserves to be determined through a particular process
known as the Transformation Process. During the Transformation Process an
extensive public awareness process was followed by a referendum that allows
residents to vote on ownership options for the land. The main choices given to the
8 While the authors deplore the usage of terms with racial connotations as a point of reference when
referring to people this may sometimes be necessary either because people refer to themselves in that
way, or because it may reflect a salient point that is made for a particular purpose. The term “Baster” is
widely used in Namibia and generally so by the Rehoboth “Basters” who often refer to themselves as
such with a great measure of pride in their unique origins and identity. In the Richtersveld the term
“Baster” in the past was often used in a derogatory way during the Apartheid era when race formed
the basis of discrimination by the government. This however appears to be changing as the desire to
discover and analyze heritage increases in the melting pot that is the Richtersveld.
While the Nama belong to a distinct and ancient grouping of people they were simply clumped
together with the so-called “coloureds” by an ignorant and insensitive South African government when
the nation was divided along ethnic and colour lines as a means for further oppression and to bestow
special privileges upon the “whites”. The history of the “Bosluis Basters” is captured in a recent book
titled BB’s van die Boesmanland by Barry Eksteen (May 2005).