The Indigenous World 2026: South Africa

Written on 22 April 2026. Posted in South Africa

The Khoikhoi and San peoples, or the Khoisan, self-identify as the Indigenous Peoples of South Africa. The Khoikhoi and San consist of six large groups, including various San, Nama, Griqua, Koranna and “revivalist Khoikhoi and San” communities. ^[1] Collectively, the Khoisan make up approximately 1% of South Africa’s population of nearly 60 million.^[2]

Various Indigenous-led organisations and councils represent the Khokhoi and San Indigenous communities at local and regional levels, the largest among them being the National Khoisan Council and the San Council of South Africa.

South Africa’s 1996 Constitution enshrines the rights to culture, language and heritage, which apply to the population of the republic generally. However, explicit legal recognition of the Indigenous Khoikhoi and San peoples remains incomplete. The 2019 Traditional and Khoikhoi and San Leadership Bill is a key piece of legislation that goes towards addressing this gap; however, the conclusion of this statute has been subjected to several delays – namely in 2023 and 2025 – due to insufficient public participation (for more see in The Indigenous World 2024, The Indigenous World 2025).

Despite constitutional commitments to civil and political rights, including freedom, equality, dignity, expression, and other rights protected by the Bill of Rights, the Indigenous Khoi and San continue to face systemic marginalisation and structural challenges to asserting their rights to their land and resources, including their biocultural rights.^[3] Moreover, the Khoikhoi and San people of South Africa experience pervasive socio-economic challenges, including abject poverty, disproportionately high levels of unemployment, and lack of access to basic services such as education, healthcare, and housing.

South Africa supports the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), having voted in favour of this international instrument in 2007. However, South Africa has not ratified ILO Convention 169.^[4]

This article is part of the 40^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2026 in full here

Introduction

Throughout 2025, the Indigenous Peoples of South Africa continued to navigate a complex legal, socio-economic and political landscape. The year saw several symbolic advances towards redressing some of the historical legacy still felt by the Khoikhoi and San peoples of South Africa. Nevertheless, the landscape for Indigenous Peoples in South Africa remains marred by ongoing challenges, including inadequate legal recognition, contested land and biocultural rights use, and persistent socio-economic marginalisation.

Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill

South Africa’s legislative framework for the recognition of Khoikhoi and San communities and their leadership structures has long been marked by significant structural inadequacies. The first notable piece of legislation in this regard was the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act 41 of 2003 (TLGFA), which recognised traditional chiefs and councils under customary law but failed to include Khoi and San leadership structures in this formal recognition.^[5] In light of this, on the 28 November 2019, Parliament repealed the 2003 Act and passed the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act of 2019 into law. The objective of this Act was to replace the TLFGA and formally recognise Khoi and San leadership structures alongside other traditional communities and their leadership.^[6] However, in the matter of Mogale and Others v the Speaker of the National Assembly and Others (2023), the Constitutional Court declared that the 2019 Act was unconstitutional due to overwhelmingly inadequate public participation in its passing. Although this ruling rendered the 2019 Act invalid, the Court suspended the Act’s invalidity for a period of 24 months with the intention that Parliament would use this time to address the shortfalls in the legislation and pass a new constitutional law into effect. The Court set a deadline of May 2025 for the government to amend and conclude the Bill. ^{[7], [8]}

The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) accordingly developed and published a new draft Bill – the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill (TKLB of 2024) and invited public comments.^[9] The aim of the Bill is to formally recognise and regulate the leadership structures of the Khoikhoi and San people and provide a means for their access to justice, participation in the different spheres of government, cultural preservation and meaningful engagement with government institutions.^[10] This Bill will serve as a crucial step towards affirming the legitimacy and leadership of the Khoikhoi and San people in the wake of the previous legislations inadequacies – especially the lack of meaningful public participation. The draft Bill was published for comments with a deadline of 28 February 2025.^[11]

 In May 2025, however, the Bill’s passage was further delayed. According to the Constitutional Court, the government had failed to take the necessary steps to address the “constitutional deficiencies” of the Bill within the 24-month period provided, thus necessitating additional time for the Bill to be streamlined.^[12] The Court held that, in light of this delay, the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act would have its declaration of invalidity suspended, thus continuing to remain in force until 29 May 2027 – providing CoGTA another 24-month period to allow for sufficient legislative reform, ensuring proper consultation.^[13]

Rooibos Benefit-Sharing Agreement

The conclusion of the groundbreaking Rooibos Benefit-Sharing Agreement in 2019 ensured that the Khoikhoi and San peoples’ traditional knowledge of the rooibos plant’s uses and benefits was recognised, and that the traditional knowledge holders were economically compensated for their stewardship of the resource.^[14] Starting in 2024, the community began to receive the financial benefits as per the agreement.^[15]

In 2025, various communities, such as those in Wupperthal, Nieuwoudtville and Suid-Bokkeveld in the Cederberg region, continued to receive monetary benefits. While the agreement’s substantive benefits for the Khoikhoi and San people continues to be challenged by external actors – such as policy analysts and academics – the Indigenous leaders from these communities emphasised the importance of the Rooibos Benefit-Sharing Agreement and the economic benefits it brings.^[16] The levy has enabled the community to own and support many grassroots projects that are crucial to the wellbeing and development of the communities. These projects include providing additional funding to local schools, installing water pumps, opening an organic Rooibos nursery, funding local students’ higher education, setting up an internet café, and supplying farmers with diesel to till their lands, among other interventions.^[17] This highlights that the impact of the Rooibos Agreement was not merely symbolic but resulted in tangible, long-term benefits for the communities preserving the plant.

Land, negotiation & community security: Knoflockskraal

In 2020, a group of seven Indigenous Khoikhoi and San people returned to their ancestral territories. which today form a 1,800-hectare state forest area in Grabouw, in the Western Cape Province.^[18] This settlement, named Knoflokskraal, was envisioned as a Khoikhoi and San settlement that would allow members of the Indigenous community to return to their ancestral land, and reclaim and restore their culture as a self-sustaining community. Since its establishment in 2020, the population of the Indigenous settlement has grown to over 4,000 people.^[19]

2025 marked a promising year for the formal recognition of the residents of Knoflokskraal. The community members, led by a mandated Cultural Task Team, developed a preliminary Biocultural Community Protocol (BCP) through which they articulated their rights as an Indigenous community reclaiming their ancestral land.^[20] Representatives of the government – specifically, the Premier of the Western Cape, the Minister of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and the Theewaterskloof Municipality – showed goodwill towards the Knoflokskraal community and the task team, convening a bilateral meeting in which significant steps were taken towards addressing the long-standing challenges, such as non-recognition as an Indigenous community and lack of access to justice, being faced by the community.^[21] A key outcome of this dialogue was the municipality’s expressed commitment to incorporate the needs of Knoflokskraal into its formal budgetary planning, paving the way for the provision of essential services such as water and sanitation, which the community had been living without access to, and for more responsive local-level support.

The Knoflokskraal community was able to formally present its BCP, which was well-received by the state. The state representatives, in turn, indicated a willingness to remove the threat of eviction and work constructively with Knoflokskraal as partners. This included agreeing to enter a structured social facilitation process designed to support a mutually beneficial way forward. The process of bilateral engagement remains a priority for the community going into 2026.

Richtersveld Nama community

The Nama community of Richtersveld are the descendants of the Indigenous Nama People of South Africa. ^[22] In the landmark case of Alexkor Ltd v Richtersveld (2003), the Constitutional Court of South Africa recognised this Nama community’s communal Indigenous right to the land of Richtersveld and to the resources found therein.^[23] The Court affirmed that the community was entitled to restitution of the right to ownership, including minerals and precious stones, and the exclusive beneficial use and occupation of the land. However, in spite of this judicial victory, a 2007 deed of settlement effectively undermined those rights, reducing the community to a 49% minority share in a joint company with the state-owned mining entity.^[24]

Eighteen years later, the community still has not seen the benefits of their constitutional win. They remain on land they legally own but with very little return.

 As a result, the community have taken a proactive approach in order to re-assert their rights and determine how their mineral resources are mined and developed. In 2025, the community partnered with the African Community Resource Rights Alliance (ACRRA), an Indigenous-led non-profit organisation focussed on providing legal and technical support to Indigenous communities, to advance these efforts. The goal of this partnership is to advocate for the enforcement of the 2003 Constitutional Court victory, provide training in the development of a biocultural community protocol for the Richtersveld Nama peoples, support community-led cultural initiatives and consultations and promote recognition of the Richtersveld Nama Traditional leadership.

Return of Khoikhoi and San ancestral remains

A significant symbolic development in 2025 was the repatriation of the ancestral remains of six Khoikhoi and San individuals from the University of Glasgow, Scotland to South Africa.

On 17 October 2025, the Indigenous Peoples of South Africa gathered at the Iziko Museum in Cape Town to celebrate the return. The ceremony was attended by various community members and leaders of Indigenous Khoikhoi and San peoples, as well as delegates from the Northern Cape and the Minister of South Africa’s Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.^[25]

In the 19^th century, these Indigenous individuals had been unethically exhumed from their burial sites in South Africa in the name of science and colonial curiosity, and transported to Europe, eventually to be held at the University of Glasgow. Five of these individuals are believed to originate from the Northern Cape and the sixth from the Western Cape in South Africa.^[26]

Khoisan removed from state property

Beginning in 2018, in an act of protest, a group of Khoikhoi and San community members took up residence in the Union Building gardens, the government headquarters in Pretoria.^[27] The aim of this protest was to secure recognition for the community as the Indigenous people of South Africa and to uphold their Indigenous rights. The community have been demanding an audience with President Cyril Ramaphosa to make their demands, which include demands for equal benefits under the country’s affirmative action policies, formal recognition of their status as the country’s Indigenous Peoples, inclusion of their languages on the state’s list of official languages and abolition of the racial term “coloured”,^[28] which was imposed on the community under the Apartheid regime.^[29]

However, in February of 2025, following an eviction order granted to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in 2024, the Khoikhoi and San community was removed from the government premises by law enforcement officials.^[30] The Department stated that, although it was sympathetic to the grievances of the community, the space occupied by the Khoikhoi and San protestors was a public space to be enjoyed by the wider public.^[31] While, on the face of it, the seven-year-long protest seems not to have achieved its ultimate aims, it nevertheless did contribute to the broader struggle of the South African Indigenous Peoples’ movement for their recognition and rights, making it more visible to the general public.

Outlook

Key risks facing the Indigenous population include land dispossession, lack of resource restitution and socio-economic marginalisation. There do, however, remain opportunities for the Indigenous Peoples of South Africa in the form of strategic litigation, robust and sustained advocacy efforts at regional and international levels and increased Indigenous network and alliance-building.

Lesle Jansen is an Indigenous attorney from the Cape Flats in Cape Town. She is currently working at the African Community Resource Rights Alliance (ACRRA) as its Managing Director. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Talitha Wyne is a lawyer born in Nairobi, Kenya and living in Cape Town, South Africa. She is currently working at the African Community Resource Rights Alliance (ACRRA) as its Programme Officer.

This article is part of the 40^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2026 in full here

Notes and references

^[1] Stavenhagen, Rodolfo. 2005. Addendum to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People: Mission to South Africa, E/CN.4/2006/78/Add.2, UN Commission on Human Rights, 15 December 2005. https://www.refworld.org/reference/mission/unchr/2005/en/57451

^[2] “Southern Africa.” n.d. The Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-Ordinating Committee. https://www.ipacc.org.za/southern-africa/

^[3] Jansen, Lesle and Mzwakali, Sobantu. “The Indigenous World 2025: South Africa.” IWGIA, 25 April 2025. https://iwgia.org/en/south-africa/5636-iw-2025-south-africa.html#_edn8 ‌

^[4] Jansen, Lesle and Horton, Theo. “The Indigenous World 2024: South Africa.” IWGIA, 16 April 2024. https://iwgia.org/en/south-africa/5358-iw-2024-southafrica.html

^[5] Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2003. https://www.gov.za/documents/traditional-leadership-and-governance-framework-act

^[6] Traditional and Kho-San leadership Act, 2019. https://www.saflii.org/za/legis/consol_act/takla2019306/

^[7] “Traditional Khoi-San Leadership Act: The Importance of Meaningful Public Participation during the Law-Making Process.” 2023. https://www.cliffedekkerhofmeyr.com/en/news/publications/2023/Practice/ProBono/pro-bono-and-human-rights-alert-9-june-traditional-khoi-san-leadership-act

^[8] Mogale and Others v the Speaker of the National Assembly and Others (CCT 73/22) [2023] ZACC 14. https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2023/14.html

^[9] Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill, 2024.https://pmg.org.za/call-for-comment/1537/

^[10] “Factsheet: Draft Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill (TKLB), 2024.” 2025. Natural Justice. 27 February 2025. https://naturaljustice.org/publication/factsheet-draft-traditional-and-khoi-san-leadership-bill-tklb-2024/

^[11] “Factsheet: Draft Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill (TKLB), 2024.” Natural Justice, 27 February 2025. https://naturaljustice.org/publication/factsheet-draft-traditional-and-khoi-san-leadership-bill-tklb-2024/

^[12] Venter, Zelda. “ConCourt Gives Government Two More Years to Fix Unconstitutional Khoi-San Leadership Act.” Independent Online (IOL), 14 October 2025. https://iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/2025-10-14-concourt-gives-government-two-more-years-to-fix-unconstitutional-khoi-san-leadership-act/

^[13] “South African Court Extends Validity of Khoi-San Leadership Law.” African Press Agency, 2 June 2025. https://apanews.net/south-african-court-extends-validity-of-khoi-san-leadership-law/

^[14] Jansen, Lesle. “The Indigenous World 21: South Africa.” IWGIA, 21 April 2021. https://iwgia.org/en/south-africa/4249-iw-2021-south-africa.html

^[15] Jansen, Lesle and Mzwakali, Sobantu, op. cit.

^[16] Wynberg, Rachel; Ives, Sarah; and Bam-Hutchison, June. “South Africa’s Small-Scale Rooibos Tea Growers Aren’t Getting Much from an Industry Deal – Why It’s Not Fair,” September 2025. https://doi.org/10.64628/aaj.rvtewfycx

^[17] Salomo, Barend; Maarman, Kennet; Zass, Ursula; and Mzwakali, Sobantu. 2025 (Unpublished). Rooibos Cederberg Indigenous Communities: Knowledge, Benefit-Sharing and Biocultural Rights in Practice. SULi WCC Case Study.

^[18] Human, Liezl. “Future of Khoisan Settlement in Grabouw Hangs in the Balance.” GroundUp News, 16 April 2025. https://groundup.org.za/article/public-works-mum-on-future-of-khoisan-settlement-in-grabouw/

^[19] Jansen, Lesle and Horton, Theo. “South Africa”. In The Indigenous World 2024, ed. D. Mamo, IWGIA. April 2024. pp. 116-122. https://iwgia.org/en/south-africa/5358-iw-2024-southafrica.html

^[20] Knoflokskraal Community, Biocultural Community Protocol. Unpublished manuscript. 2025

^[21] “Update on Knoflokskraal Land Occupation in Theewaterskloof Municipality.” Western Cape Government, 22 August 2025. https://www.westerncape.gov.za/department-premier/article/update-knoflokskraal-land-occupation-theewaterskloof-municipality

^[22] “SA Herders Win Back Diamond Land.” BBC, 14 October 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3192000.stm

^[23] Alexkor Ltd and Another v Richtersveld Community and Others (CCT19/03) [2003] ZACC 18; 2004 (5) SA 460 (CC); 2003 (12) BCLR 1301 (CC) (14 October 2003). https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2003/18.html

^[24] “A Bright Future Denied: The Plight of the Mining-Affected!Ama People of the Richtersveld. - Protect the West Coast.” Protect the West Coast, 31 May 2024. https://protectthewestcoast.org/post/a-bright-future-denied-the-plight-of-the-mining-affected-ama-people-of-the-richtersveld/

^[25] Adams, Geraldine Kendall. “Hunterian Returns Ancestral Human Remains to South Africa.” Museums Association, 17 October 2025. https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2025/10/hunterian-returns-ancestral-human-remains-to-south-africa/#

^[26] Ibid.

^[27] Mkwananzi, Masabata and Venter, Zelda. “Khoisan Group Evicted from Union Buildings Threaten to Report Ramaphosa to Trump.” Independent Online (IOL), 11 February 2025. https://iol.co.za/the-star/news/2025-02-11-khoisan-group-evicted-from-union-buildings-threaten-to-report-ramaphosa-to-trump/

^[28] Although the apartheid laws that established racial categorization were repealed in 1991, the categorization was effectively reintroduced through the Employment Equity Act (No. 55 of 1998) and has since been widely used to guide land reform and affirmative action policies.

^[29] AFP. 2025. “SA’s Khoisan Evicted from Govt HQ after 6-Year Protest.” Eyewitness News, 10 February 2025. https://www.ewn.co.za/2025/02/10/sas-khoisan-evicted-from-govt-hq-after-6-year-protest

^[30] Mkwananzi, Masabata, and Venter, Zelda, op. cit.

^[31] “Public Works and Infrastructure on eviction of Khoi-San occupation at Union Buildings.” South African Government, 10 February 2025. https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/public-works-and-infrastructure-eviction-khoi-san-occupation-union-buildings

Tags: Global governance