A group of San (Bushmen) from Lake Chrissie in Mpumalanga visited the mountain peaks of their forefathers in KwaZulu-Natal last week, along with local San descendants and other San from the Northern Cape.
Representative for the group, Annie van de Venter, on Sunday said the group was at Didima Camp, Cathedral Peak, for a two-day workshop organised by KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, the Natal Museum and the KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Council, which has responsibility for protecting rock art sites in the province.
The workshop was held to explore ways for the South African San Council to become involved in decision-making surrounding rock art, such as the R6-million Rock Art Interpretation Centre which is presently being constructed at Didima, as well as to consider the rights of the San to the intellectual property of their ancestors.
”According to the history books, the Drakensberg San became extinct during the 19th century. However, current research disputes that. They either trekked away to Lake Chrissie in 1879, according to oral tradition and missionary accounts, or assimilated with local clans, intermarrying but retaining much of their San
culture,” Van de Venter said.
”Pockets all over KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho and Mpumalanga still identify themselves as San, but are careful also to identify with local ethnicities,” Head of Anthropology at Natal Museum Frans Prins said.
He said the San from Lake Chrissie and KwaZulu-Natal speak a hybrid of Sotho, Zulu, Swazi and Afrikaans, often using old-world High Dutch expressions. – Sapa