A South African court has stopped the proposed construction of Amazon’s new Africa headquarters after some descendants of the country’s earliest inhabitants said the land it would be built on was sacred.
Recall that the contested land alongside the Black River in Cape Town, South Africa was earmarked for a development, which includes a new Africa headquarters for Amazon.
The Western Cape division of the High Court interdicted the project developer from continuing with works at the Cape Town site until there had been meaningful engagement and consultation with affected indigenous peoples.
“This matter ultimately concerns the rights of indigenous peoples …. The fundamental right to culture and heritage of indigenous groups, more particularly the Khoi and San First Nations Peoples, are under threat in the absence of proper consultation,” Judge Patricia Goliath said in her ruling.
The Khoi and the San were the earliest inhabitants of South Africa, the latter roaming as hunter gatherers for tens of thousands of years, and the former joining them as pastoralists more than 2,000 years ago.
Some of their descendants had objected to the River Club development, where Amazon would be the “anchor tenant” but which also includes plans for a hotel, retail offices and homes, as it lies at the confluence of two rivers considered sacred, the Black and Liesbeek Rivers.
Not everyone identifying with the Khoi and San was against the project. An association of Khoi and San, who supported it, was among the respondents in the case.
Amazon was not named as a respondent, and the company did not respond to an emailed request for comment sent outside office hours. When the court case was launched early this year a spokesperson declined comment.
Goliath said her ruling should not be construed as a criticism of the development but that the core issue was that there needed to be proper consultation before it could go ahead.
Amazon already employs thousands of people in data hubs in Cape Town, and with over a third of South Africans unemployed authorities is keen to encourage foreign investment.
Construction of the River Club development had continued despite the case being before the court.
[7:34 AM, 3/21/2022] KaftanPost Hollins: Take responsibility for criminal racketeering in your govt, PDP tells Buhari
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to take responsibility for the “criminal racketeering in his government by the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders”.
The opposition party said the APC administration’s unrelenting culture of arrogance, impunity, and ‘criminal pillaging’ of national resources is akin to kneeling on the necks of Nigerians.
The PDP in a statement by its spokesman, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, warned that there is a limit to what the people can bear under an administration that remains “arrogant, inhumane, unconcerned and insensitive to their plights occasioned by its misrule”.
According to the opposition party, it is an “unpardonable dereliction of duty that while the nation is in turmoil and agonizing under a collapsed national grid, protracted fuel crisis, distressed aviation sector, plummeting currency, crippled production, and commercial activities, President Muhammadu Buhari remains aloof and “absent” as always”.
“The failure by President Buhari, who also doubles as the Minister of Petroleum Resources to take immediate action, other than the snobbish stance by his Presidency that “heavens will not fall” because of fuel scarcity amounts to daring Nigerians to do their worse,” Hon Ologunagba declared.
“It is often said that when a government abdicates its responsibility to the citizens at whose pleasure it should serve, then that government is complicit in the suffering of its people and a beneficiary of their woes.
“Sadly today, thousands of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises; the drivers of the economy are folding up daily, industries are relocating to neighboring countries, universities are on strike, the aviation sector is on the brink of collapse, our Railway is tottering to a halt due to lack of diesel, police are threatening to go on strike, insecurity is on the rise due to the collapse of the informal economic sector, yet Mr. President had time to holiday in England!
“If President Buhari could personally communicate on issues that concern his fizzling party, the APC, while in England, it is inconceivable that he failed and neglected, as always, to attend to life discounting experiences and pains encountered by Nigerians daily by the thoughtless and inhumane policies of his government,” the party’s statement partly read.
The PDP further asserted that President Buhari needs to be reminded of his duty to Nigerians, to in the least, show some empathy, competence, and concern as the country rapidly drifts towards a looming precipice.
According to the party, the frustration in the country is already degenerating into a nationwide restiveness that may result in the breakdown of law and order if allowed to fester.
“With petrol now selling between N400 to N500 per liter, diesel at over N800 per liter, kerosine at over N750 and aviation fuel at N670 per liter, millions of businesses, employment and sources of livelihood have collapsed in both urban and rural areas resulting in acute hardship and widespread social tension across the country,” the PDP said.
The party through its spokesman said the situation is getting to a boiling point and can trigger a nationwide agitation that might be worse than the October 2020 EndSARS if not addressed immediately.
The opposition party further urged Buhari to “stop abdicating his duties” by sending his aides to issue wild claims, fake promises, and noncommittal apologies on the abysmal failures of his administration.
