Desert state funeral for Khoisan leader
2012-06-26 21:27
Bloemfontein - South Africa will honour its most celebrated Khoisan leader, Oom Dawid Kruiper, with a state funeral in the Kalahari desert, officials said on Tuesday.
Kruiper, 71, died about two weeks ago after being admitted to hospital a week before.
National and provincial flags will fly at halfmast on Saturday for the burial in the town of Witdraai in the Northern Cape, close to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which straddles the borders of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.
"The late Dawid Kruiper will be reunited with his late wife in the dunes of the Kalahari," the government said in a statement.
Kruiper was a leader of 5 000 Khoisan, the first known inhabitants of Southern Africa.
He addressed the United Nations in Geneva on the rights of indigenous people in 1994, and led the way for land claims in South Africa for the San people. About 40 000ha of land were handed back to the San in March 1999.
Kruiper was also known for his acting role as a tracker in the 1989 movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy II.
- SAPA
