In April of this year it was confirmed that Amazon would be developing a site in Cape Town – the River Club area to be precise. While the precise nature of what Amazon plans to make available with what is built on that site remains to be seen, there is growing opposition to the plans.
This as a protest is scheduled for tomorrow (12th November) from 15:00 to 17:30, organised by a group called the Liesbeek Action Campaign (LAC).
In a press release sent to Hypertext, the group says that the development threatens Cape Town’s “green lung”, with the River Club area also significant as far as the San and Khoi people in the region are concerned.
“Tech giant Amazon wants to build its African Headquarters on the floodplain at the confluence of the Black and Liesbeek rivers. The development entails 150 000 square metres of concrete bulk, which violates environmental principles both nationally and internationally, including the Paris Agreement,” the LAC highlights.
“This area is a ground zero precinct for the San and Khoi: A site that recognises the untold holocaust that ensued over a century and a half wiping out indigenous communities while forcing them into exile. The first Frontier Wars were fought here in 1659, which resulted in a 180 year series of wars of resistance by the San and Khoi resulting in the genocide of the Cape San, the extinction of sacred animals, ethnocide and forced removals of indigenous people,” it adds.
The aforementioned confirmation of the Amazon plan noted at the time that, “The site is not subject to restrictions such as a Heritage Protection Overlay Zone. However, the developer has undertaken to introduce various elements to celebrate culture and heritage where currently there are none.”
The developer also noted several plans to focus conservation in the area, but did not go into detail about the specifics, or indeed whether such plans were set in stone.
With bulldozers reportedly at the site already and waiting to begin the process of construction, it remains to be seen what impact this protest action will have, especially as the wheels have been set in motion.
[Image – Photo by Tobias Reich on Unsplash]
