'First Nations' rights protestor,/xeicen Ruben Rudtowf (pictured above), was one of four remaining activists still camping at the Union Buildings protest site since the community was formally evicted through a court order by the Department of Public Works on 11 December 2024.  On Monday, 10 January, the Department enforced the order, closed the Union Buildings gardens to the public and demolished King Khoisan’s ‘protest palace’.

The King himself was not present. He is recovering from a traffic accident after leaving the occupation site last month to return home to the Eastern Cape for the first time in seven years – the time he and a handful of protestors have been encamped outside the President’s office, near Nelson Mandela’s statue, growing cannabis and cultivating vegetables in their campaign for indigenous language and land rights of the Khoisan to be recognized.

Rudtowf, Willem Plaatjies and two other Khoisan activists responded angrily to the demolition and were removed from the property and given temporary housing by the Department at Eersterust, outside Pretoria.

The activists were waiting for King Khoisan to return to Tshwane after an accident left him injured and claimed the life of his wife, Queen Khoisan SA, Cynthia Triagaardt, in early January.

“We are angry about it and how they kicked us out. I just want to fight back, but I can’t, I am tired,” Plaatjies told the Citizen newspaper. He said he couldn’t imagine not living at the Union Buildings after the initial eviction notice was postponed to allow the Khoisan’s to mourn the loss of the queen.

King KhoisanSA arrived at the gardens in 2018 to fight for his people to receive first-nation recognition, for the Khoisan language to be made part of the official languages, and for the coloured identity to be scrapped.

Since their arrival, the Khoisan have become a tourist attraction at the gardens with their own museum, cannabis club, and self-sustainable vegetable garden and were frequently seen supporting other groups protesting or picketing at the gardens or around the city.

King KhoisanSA was also arrested and charged with dealing in dagga, illegal plantation and cultivation of dagga and the failure to wear a face mask in public when ordered to do so by a police officer in January 2022. All charges are understood to have subsequently been dropped.

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure Spokesperson Lennox Mabaso confirmed the eviction had been carried out.

“It should be noted that no appeal or opposition has been received against this court order by any interested parties,” he said.

Mabaso said that while the department expressed its sympathy with the serious grievances of the Khoisan community, no person had the right to claim or occupy public space intended to be used and enjoyed by all South Africans.

“South Africa is a society based on the rule of law, and legitimate concerns should therefore be addressed through the proper legislated channels. The department worked and consulted with all stakeholders, including other government departments and the City of Tshwane, before the order was enforced to assist all individuals who were willing to return home,” he said.

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