VZCZCXRO5873
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLU #0477/01 1351605
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151605Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY LUANDA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3976
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LUANDA 000477 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO AF/S AND AF/PD 
STATE PASS TO DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SCUL PGOV AO
SUBJECT: ANGOLA HOSTS FIRST SAN CONFERENCE 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  Representatives from San communities in 
Angola gathered with San representatives from other Southern 
African countries, NGOs, and government officials for the 
first Angolan San Conference on April 24th - 26th 2007.  Not 
only did this represent the first time the Angolan San met 
with San people from Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, it 
was also the first time the Angolan San came together to 
discuss the community's issues.  Though no firm GRA 
commitments of assistance were made, the conference was a 
positive step towards creating public awareness and GRA 
support for the basic human rights of a marginalized, 
impoverished people.  Above all, the conference was an 
invaluable opportunity to start a dialogue within the San 
community on development issues.  End Summary. 
 
Angolan San:  Dreaming of a Better Life 
---------------------------------------- 
¶2. (U) Representatives from the 3,500 San people in Angola, 
the provincial governments of Huila, Cunene, and Kuando 
Kubango, San communities from Namibia, Botswana and South 
Africa, and national and international NGOs met in Lubango, 
the capital of Huila Province, for the first-ever Angolan San 
Conference on April 24-26th, 2007.  The conference was 
organized by the local NGO Christian Organization for Aid and 
Community Development, and financed by groups including 
Trocaire (the Irish-Catholic Charity and Development 
Organization), the Dutch Development Organization (SNV), the 
Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa 
(WIMSA), and Terre des Hommes.  The conference's first two 
days were solely for the tri-country San communities, and the 
third day was open to the public. 
 
¶3. (U) The San opened the public conference with traditional 
song, dance and a chant of their manifesto: "We are all 
Angolans.  We want the same rights as other Angolans.  We 
have the will to work and the strength to cultivate our 
fields.  We dream of a life without abuse.  We want training 
and respect for our leaders and our communities.  We want to 
be a part of Angola's future.  We want schools, medical 
clinics and legal protection of our lands.  We want fair 
wages for our labor and a good relationship with our Bantu 
neighbors.  We want the same assistance that others receive!" 
 
¶4. (U) Recommendations from the conference include the 
creation of a San Council and the development and training of 
San leaders to advocate for the community's issues, such as 
the key issues of land and water rights.  Many San are now 
day laborers on the same communal, ancestral territory their 
ancestors once used for nomadic hunting and gathering.  The 
2004 Angolan land law allows for legal recognition and 
titling of communal land, but regulations for the law have 
never been published and titling procedures throughout the 
country are on hold.  In a positive step, a San community in 
Huila received a provisional land use title and was presented 
with the official documentation at the conference.  However, 
while the land title grants permission for use, it does not 
convey ownership or the right to sell the land. 
 
Forging Connections Among San People 
------------------------------------- 
¶5. (SBU) During closed sessions, Angolan San discussed with 
each other and their Southern African kinsmen key issues 
affecting their communities, such as hunger, conflicts 
between the Angolan San and their Bantu neighbors over land 
and water rights, and the lack of potable water, medical 
clinics, and schools.  San kinsmen in neighboring countries 
were able to share their positive and negative experiences in 
obtaining land rights, social services, and community 
development while working to maintain San traditions, 
culture, and language.  This was the first-ever gathering of 
Angolan San people from various provinces, and the first time 
that many Angolan San had ever seen a city.  A San 
representative from Botswana told Poloff he was surprised by 
how "behind" the Angolan San community is in terms of health, 
standards of living, knowledge of their rights, and ability 
to dialogue on community issues and visualize a different 
future.  He characterized the Angolan San community as living 
at the same standard their kinsmen in neighboring countries 
were at 20-30 years ago. 
A History of Exclusion 
----------------------- 
¶6. (U) Background: An estimated 3,500 Angolan San live in 
small communities scattered throughout the southern provinces 
of Huila, Cunene, and Kuando Kubango.  The San's historically 
nomadic lifestyle made it easy for both expanding Bantu 
tribes and Portuguese colonialists to exclude the San from 
the country's political and social structure.  Though San 
communities settled into more fixed locations and adopted 
agricultural production before independence, their history of 
 
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extreme poverty, discrimination and social exclusion 
continued through the civil war.  Their history of communal 
decision making leaves them without traditional leaders who 
can address San issues with local Bantu chiefs (sobas) and 
local government officials.  The government-run newspaper 
Jornal de Angola recently labeled the San as the "poorest of 
the poor, even in a country as poor as Angola."  Note: 
Research in San communities found 39 percent child mortality 
rates, 99 percent illiteracy, and extremely high levels of 
food insecurity.  End Note. 
 
¶7. (U) The San people, sometimes called Khoison (which is the 
linguistic designation for a family of click languages) or 
Bushmen, are the indigenous people in parts of Angola, 
Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa.  Genetic evidence 
suggests the San are one of the oldest peoples in the world. 
End background. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment: Though the Provincial Governments were 
represented and a National Assembly deputy (also former 
Minister of Culture) attended the conference, firm 
commitments of government aid were not made.  High-level 
government attendance was notably absent; the Governor of 
Huila was expected to open and close the conference, but sent 
representatives instead.  While the verbal recognition of San 
rights shown by the GRA during the conference is a very 
positive step, the legwork to actually protect those rights 
will be done through the international community's support of 
local NGOs for the foreseeable future.  End Comment. 
FERNANDEZ