The Khoisan have already partitioned off their own land near Grabouw

In 2020, descendants of Khoisan groups reclaimed their ancestral homeland at Knoflokskraal, near Grabouw along the N2. The site covers approximately 1800 hectares of land, partly within the environmentally significant Kogelberg Biosphere, and has since expanded to thousands of people living without formal services.

Claims centre on the Chainouqua tribe, known as the “people of the rivers.” Captain Klaas Dorha, recorded as the last Chainouqua captain in the late 17th century, controlled extensive land west of the Gouga River, including the area later known as Knoflokskraal. Following his death in 1701, authorities appropriated the land, reflecting broader patterns of anti-Khoekhoe sentiment.

The 2020 group, drawn from Chainouqua, Hessequa, Outeniqua, and !Xam lineages, established a self-sustaining Khoisan community focused on farming, livestock, and communal living. Knoflokskraal now consists of widely spaced informal structures built from wood, zinc, and salvaged materials, without formal electricity or water. Signage such as “Khoi-munity” signals the community’s identity ambitions. While tribal representatives have voiced support for land recognition, government authorities maintain that no formal claim has yet been approved. What will the Cape government do?

As South Africa continues to fragment, I wonder who will partition off their own piece of land next and establish their own local leadership. Since South Africa was artificially created in 1910 and is centred on resource extraction from the land and the people, the partitioning of South Africa into coherent pieces is the moral path forward.

However, this must be done responsibly so that social cohesion can be maintained. South Africa is notorious for breaking social bonds by moving people around like pieces on a chessboard. Remember what happened in the 1910s and 1920s, when Zulu-speaking men were moved to Johannesburg to work on the mines?

Lex Libertas is already working towards a more sustainable dispensation for Southern Africa, which includes ideas of local decision-making closer to communities, compared to the immoral, highly centralised South African system that we have had from 1910 to today.