South Africa’s history curriculum is getting a major overhaul. The draft plan shifts the focus to an “African-centred” lens, from ditching the “empty land” myth to exploring ancient African empires. If you could include an event from our history, what would you add to the curriculum?
I would definitely like to see the history of the San and the Khoi being given its rightful place.
The San were the First People, inhabitants of the land since the Late Stone Age. Their way of life, at one with nature and at peace with one another, is evident from rich archaeological findings and rock paintings. Once white farmers started trekking into the interior, the San were hunted like wild animals and enslaved on farms. The !Xam and N|uu were the last significant San groups. Ouma Katrien Esau is the last remaining mother-tongue speaker of N|uu.
The Khoi were the first herders of our country, arriving from further north at the beginning of the first millennium. They brought with them the skills of pottery and copper smelting. The Battle of Black River is the first recorded clash of indigenous South Africans with colonial intruders. The Goringhaicona defeated a Portuguese landing party led by Dom de Almeida in 1510.
In the Eastern Cape, intermarriage and cultural exchange between the Khoi and the amaXhosa took place from very early on. The clicks in isiXhosa were borrowed from Khoi languages. The amaXhosa’s Khoi heritage is evident from as an illustrious man as Nelson Mandela.
As with the San, the arrival of the Dutch colonials spelt trouble for their way of life. The Western tradition of fenced farms clashed with their tradition of trekking with their livestock. They, too, were eventually submerged into the white farming economy as serfs. Today, Khoekhoegowab is being revived as a school and broadcasting language in the Northern Cape.
The prehistory and history of the San and Khoi, from the Late Stone Age to the 19th century, should form an essential part of the new History syllabus.
1 Like
Seems to be a case of over-correction. Eurocentric lens to Afrocentric lens assumes Africans aren’t interested in world history. If indeed some aren’t interested in a more universal perspective, that prejudice should be challenged. The curriculum should include the philosophy of history – the “What is History” question
1 Like