San of Angola

In order to answer my own questions regarding the current political, social and economic status of the San of Angola, I visited Angola in a 4x4 SUV, traveling through 14 of its 18 provinces, in June - August, 2007. My conclusions, reported here, are largely based on observations gained during that trip.

The current status of the San (Bushmen) of Angola cannot be judged without first understanding the repercussions of the recent civil war, for the “on-the-ground” citizens of that country. The 30-year Angolan civil war that ended in 2002 has left a path of destruction in its wake the likes of which is rarely seen.

The Angolan civil war was largely fought as a conventional war.
The destruction of the road, railway and bridge infrastructure was almost complete.

The large number of closely knit tribal communities which previously had formed the bulk of the country’s population and had settled mostly in clusters along the edges of the country’s roads and railway lines, were almost completely scattered. Numerous members of such communities, in order to avoid being drafted into the armies of the warring parties, moved away from the roads and other access routes, into the bush, to avoid being caught. Others tried to find a safe haven in numbers, by fleeing into the cities and other large provincial centers, seeking protection in numbers.

Being easily accessible to the warring armies, members of communities situated next to roads, such
as this (now) abandoned village near Nova Catata, were the first to be targeted for recruitment into the
army. Those who refused to join were summarily shot. The result was a large scale abandonment of the
villages, fleeing into the bush, away from the roads, or into the cities and larger centers.

Following this massive and revolutionary social and economic upheaval, a reconstitution of communities is now recurring, but because of the almost complete destruction of the economy and physical infrastructure including roads, railway lines and bridges, movement within the country has become extremely difficult. The result is, instead, that communities are tending to reconstitute in loco, forming new but now mixed rural communities. This “omelet” or “melting pot” effect is dramatic and must, by its nature, be extremely traumatic for those affected.

One could argue that the removal of the previous (geographic) separation of groups, along tribal lines, is serving to “homogenize” the Angolan society socially and culturally, certainly facilitating future government of the country – after all, tribal divisions today still remain the major stumbling block in achieving true democracy in most African countries.

On the other hand, this massive exercise in social engineering is bound to lead to a significant loss of cultural richness of Angolan society. Many of the traditional cultural values, practices and languages so unique to the many different tribes that had previously occurred in Angola, are most likely to disappear.

The above was best illustrated one late afternoon when I was camping on a beach at a small coastal fishing settlement at Qicombo in Kwanza Sul Province. About thirty youngsters aged 4-8 were playing on the beach. I discovered that they were using Portuguese exclusively, to communicate with each other. They could not understand each other except through Portuguese. Their mother tongue languages included 12 indigenous languages: Kimbundu, Umbundu, Mbundu, Kwangali, Mbwela, Sama, Nkhumbi, Nkangala, Luyama, Luvale and Ndombe. Those older than 6 could all count to 10 in Portuguese, yet none could repeat it in their mother tongue. I was informed that, before the war, the people of Qicombo were of one tribe, and they spoke only their mother tongue.

All Angolans including the San have, to a greater or lesser extent, been subjected to the above described social forces.

The economic impact of the war has been particularly hard on the San. Firstly, the non-San communities which had abandoned their villages, fleeing into the bush, had no choice but to temporarily revert to primitive subsistence methods of survival, including hunting of game and gathering of veld foods. Secondly, all of the country’s game became the target of the military (including the Cubans) who often hunted from helicopters using AK47’s and machine guns to obtain food for the men in uniform. This overwhelming competition, from two sides, seriously impacted on those San who still relied on their traditional hunting and gathering for their survival. A good example is the San previously found in Bicuari and Mupa National Parks.

This member of the (non-San) Chokwe tribe, which we found
in Lunda Norte Province temporarily had to revert to hunting
and gathering, to survive through the war years – July, 2007.

During the past ±6000 years the San’s territory, where they had practiced their hunter gatherer lifestyle for millennia, has been constantly reduced by the colonizing Bantu tribes of southern Africa, who first expanded eastwards from West Africa onto the eastern savannahs and then southwards towards the southern tip of Africa, with their newly acquired cattle herds (introduced from the Middle East during the Neolithic revolution). The newly acquired pastoral lifestyles of the Bantu were in every respect diametrically opposed and completely incompatible with the traditional hunting and gathering lifestyle of the San, to the extent of being mutually exclusive. Today’s San still face the same problem, manifested as a deeply ingrained racism amongst the Bantu of southern Africa against their San cousins. Today southern African governments (excluding the South African government, it must by said) attempt to hide this racism by advocating "enlightened policies" aimed at "absorbing the San into modern society", moving them to centers "where they can receive modern services such as medical and schooling for their children". This, of course, is nothing but a smoke screen aimed at fooling gullible western and other governments and to allow them to continue grabbing traditional hunting and gathering lands from the San, usually for black cattle farmers.

San woman living near Hombo – July, 2007

The same applies to the San of Angola. For example, I questioned Mr Bulei Maleia, the Administrador at Hombo (situated between Kipungu and Matala in Huila Province) on 20th July, 2007 about his government’s policy regarding the San living in the area for which he is responsible. He informed me that they were currently busy registering all the San in his area with the view of moving them to a central location nearby. He cited the standard reasons quoted for doing so, i.e. to bring them closer to the available government services, such as medical and schooling. In the same vein on 25th July, 2007 Mr Daniel Sapalo, the Administrador of the area situated between Quiteve and Mulondo, on the western banks of the Cunene River, confirmed to me that the same applied to the San living in the nearby village, Dolofi (S= 15.98409 o S, E=15.17367 o S), in his area of jurisdiction. He mentioned that there was a second group of 60 San still living nearby, in the Parque Nacional da Mupa, directly across the river, which were also being relocated, but by the officials of Cunene Province, within which the park is situated.

San man from Dolofi village near Qiteve
July, 2007

These combined social, economic and political forces, pitted against the San of Angola, today threaten their very survival. By their very nature they are not good social organizers. It is unlikely that they will organize themselves timeously in order to safeguard them against the effects of these forces. They urgently need assistance if their lot is to be improved. (This matter is addressed, in a more general sense, elsewhere on this site).

I planned my visit using the official ethnological statistics based on the last population census that was undertaken by the previous Portuguese regime, in 1970 (1 year before the commencement of military activities in Angola). I intended visiting the 8 areas, as indicated by the census results, that were partially occupied by Khoisan i.e. San (there are no Khoi in Angola) – see map below - in order to familiarize myself with the status of each group. As can be seen, the San only occurred in four provinces of Angola, i.e. Namíbe, Huila, Cunene and Cuando Cubango, all in the south of the country.

The geographic distributions pertaining to the 4 western groups in 1970 are shown in more detail below.

Area I

The towns of Caracula, Munhino, Cuto, Garganta, Bibala, Caitou and Camucuio in Area 1 were visited on 23rd/24th July 2007. Approximately 200km of road was traveled within the area. Enquiries were made at each town. A visual inspection, whilst traveling around, yielded no sign of any San living in the area any more. The National Police chief of the area, stationed at Camucuio (S = 14.33795o, E = 13.43955 o) was approached for information. He categorically stated that there were no San remaining in the area indicated as Area 1. He mentioned that there were a few cattle farmers who still depended to some extent on hunting and gathering, living north of Camucuio in the Serra da Neve, but that they were definitely not San.

The area was severely affected by the war, in terms of tribal mixing as described above. Previously an area occupied mainly by the Makuvare, Muila and Wangambwe tribes, the population now also include substantial number of Humbi, Umbundu, Jelenge, Cubal, Coloca and Waquis, tribes all mixed up and reforming into new groups.

The area is now extensively farmed by cattle farmers; there is no game of any note to be found there anymore.

Conclusion: The San population that previously lived in Area 1 has completely disappeared from that area, by 2007.

Area 2

Female member of the Hombo San - 2007

The town of Kipungu, Hombo, Folgares and Matala in Area 2 were visited on 20th/21st July, 2007. Enquiries, made at the offices of the National Police of Kipungu, led us to Hombo, where we met the Administrador, Mr Bulei Maleia. He took us 6km east of Hombo to a small town, Mupembati (S = 14.92291o, E = 14.81389 o), where we found a group of about 60-80 San, living as one clan. According to Mr Maleia there were a number of other, similar clans in his area of jurisdiction, comprising a total of approximately 500 individuals.

The general condition of the group of San can best be described as miserable. They were clearly suffering from extreme poverty and general neglect. I tried to interview individual members of the group, but it quickly became clear that they were not going to speak frankly about sensitive issues in the presence of the Administrador and National Police Chief, who were minding us all the time.

It appears that all the San who in 1970 had lived in the Bicuari National Park (see Map above showing Khoisan settlements as in 1970) to the south of Hombo have since been moved northwards, out of the park, into settlements in the vicinity of Mupembati, within a radius of less than 10km around Hombo, where they “could receive government services such as medical and schooling” (sic). The San is prevented from entering the Park, and hunting there has been banned, now making it a criminal offence.

Male member of the Hombo San – 2007

(Apparently the ban on hunting in the Park is now applied strictly by the National Police, across the board. Against all expectations, we were able to observe fresh elephant tracks on the northern perimeter of the Park – a true rarity for Angola today. Apparently, smaller game such as various antelope species were also slowly returning to the Park in increasing numbers).

We asked the officials to speak to the local spokesman of the San in the area, one Piriquito, but gained the impression that we were being steered away from him, under the pretence that he had gone to town for the day and was therefore not available to see us. (We had previously determined from locals that Piriquito was the unofficial spokesman for the local San, who held strong views about matters affecting the San, and we suspected that officials wanted these views from being aired).

A small number of San has apparently been co-opted onto a local committee supposedly representing the interests of the San in the area. They receive some material benefits in exchange for sitting on the committee, but appear to have little say when it comes to the more serious matters affecting the San’s destiny in the area. The acceptance of these representatives, as their true representatives, by other members of the San community is doubtful.

The area within which the San now find themselves, has since the war been swamped by increasing numbers of Humbi cattle farmers. Significant numbers of Umbundu and Janeka are now also found there, all farming with cattle.

Though not hunting any more, the Hombo San still keep
their arrows sharpened - 2007

In Area 2 the San don’t hunt any more, due to the unavailability of game. They may still occasionally snare a guinea fowl or catch a spring hare, using their traditional hooked prodding rods, but this occurs rarely only. A year ago the monthly emergency food ration supplies that they had been receiving from the government also dried up. Amongst all of the San of Hombo, none currently owns any cattle, goats, sheep or any other stock. Not even chickens. They do still rely on veld food (the fruit of the Strychnos tree species, which occurs abundantly but only seasonally in the area) to a certain extent. Currently their main means of survival is by bartering their labour for food to the local Bantu tribes, by tending their cattle and cultivating their mahango (the local staple food) grain crops.

The Hombo San informed me that they are not nomadic anymore, and will now only consider moving during periods of extreme drought, when it becomes impossible to survive because of a food shortage. Drinking water is nevertheless, unlike in Namibia and Botswana, generally readily available year round in all of Angola, thus not making it a factor affecting the San’s nomadic movements.

I could not find any member of the Hombo San who still owned or played any of the traditional !Kung musical instruments, such as the mbira (or Sanghi, the locally used name) and the //gwashi. They were aware of the existence of such instruments, however, mentioning that their grandfathers and great-grandfathers had owned and played the instruments.

During my interviews I established that the Hombo San were generally extremely isolated, rarely coming into contact with other San groups further than about 40km away. Apparently their last contact with a different San tribe occurred during the early stages of the civil war, in 1975, when Kwe-speaking San from Cuando Cubango once briefly traveled through their area (as trackers for the South African assisted FNLA forces who was operating in the south of the country). Due to language differences they were unable to communicate, however!

Conclusion: The approximately 500 San that are left in the Hombo area, have all been moved from their ancestral lands in the Bicuary National Park (Area 2) into a small area of less than 10km radius, centering on Hombo just to the north of the Park. They have been robbed of their traditional lifestyle and their current lifestyle closely resembles that of slavery.

Area 3

The towns of Caconda, Moco, Cambongue, Chinguenda and Chicomba in Area 3 were visited on 19/21st July, 2007. A number of people were consulted in order to obtain information regarding the whereabouts of San settlements in the area. Most helpful were two knowledgeable employees, Aminagh Menage and Antonio Altore of Concelle Noroegues do Refugiade in Chicomba. From them we learnt that the San that had occurred in Area 3 before the civil war, have since completely disappeared from there. We traveled through the area trying to find information, or signs, indicating the possible presence of San in the area, but to no avail. There was no sign of any San in Area 3.

The main street of Chicomba – July, 2007.

We subsequently discovered that the San of Area 3 had in fact migrated a distance of approximately 100km south west, in the direction of Lubango, at some stage since 1970. We tracked, and found them in a new area, near Area 2, in and around the towns of Muamba, Cacula, Sendi and Hoque. At Hoque we met with representatives of the local village chief, one Pheio, who took us to interview one clan of San living in the nearby village of Chela (S=14.56052o, E=14.07922 o). From locals we learnt that a few clans were to be found in the area, as far as Matala in the east, and as far as the point where the Serra da Bandeira and Serra da Neve mountains meet in the west. The last mentioned made us realize that some of the San now living in the “migrated location” of Area 3 may possibly be remnants of the group originally found in Area 1 but which may have migrated eastwards, into the area. This possibility could, however, not be established as a fact in the short time available to us. The total number of individuals in this "new" area is currently approximately 1000.

Male member of San clan, standing at
his hut at Chela – 2007. From the
hut construction it can be seen that the
San of Chela are not Nomadic anymore.

Female member and baby, of the San clan at
Chela - 2007.

The general condition of the San that we saw was only marginally better than that of the group that we had interviewed in Area 2. They also largely rely on bartering their labour for food by tending cattle and grain crops of the local farmers. They also don’t own any stock, but apparently some of the San at Hoque own some chickens. The area where they live is still relatively wild and some game does apparently occur there, to the east of where they live. They snare guinea fowl and other larger bird species and hunt spring hares and porcupines. Smaller antelope also occur there and are hunted, but apparently with great difficulty due to the nature of the terrain. They hunt as much as 40km away from where they live. They are not restricted from hunting by the authorities, since the hunting grounds do not lie within a Park. They seldom collect veld foods since suitable edible plants do not occur in the area where they reside. No food or other assistance is provided by the government. A relatively new development is that a few of the San have started planting their own crops, but only on a very small scale.

The groups are not nomadic. The rainfall in the area, which lies approximately 1575m above sea level, is high and reliable so that food and drinking water shortages do not appear to ever become acute.

The San group in the “new” area appears to have little contact with the San groups in Area 2, although they speak the same language (!Kung), mainly due to the unavailability of transport and the relatively large walking distance.

This beautifully crafted bow-and-arrows are still
used for hunting by the San of Chela – July, 2007.

Some of the clans on the eastern perimeter of the “new” area apparently still own traditional musical instruments, which they do still play.

Conclusion: There are no San living in Area 3, where they were living in 1970, any more. Instead, they have migrated to a new area, situated approximately 100km away, in a south easterly direction from their 1970 location, around the town of Hoque. They, and remnants of the group previously from Area 1 which may possibly also have migrated to this area, total approximately 1000 individuals. Their traditional lifestyle has almost completely disappeared and their current socio-economic status is barely better than those described for the San of Area 2.

Area 4

The town of Quiteve, situated on the banks of the Cunene
River. With the Mupa National Park lying across the river, the
town has huge potential to be developed for tourism. The
presence of the San there could feature strongly as a
tourist attraction, if managed correctly.

We visited the Parque Naçional da Mupa, to make contact with the San of Area 4, on 25th/26th July 2007. We traveled up from Xangongo via Techiulo, Camba, Santa Terezinia northwards along the western banks of the Kunene River, which forms the western boundary of the Park, up to Quiteve and Mulondo. We were received by the local Administrador, Mr Daniel Sapalo and representante do empresario do Quiteve, Mr Vasco Wakuyungula.

Meeting with the administrador and the police
chief is standard procedure, before visiting a local area in Angola. In this instance, we received a friendly welcome from Mr Daniel Sapalo (left).

The area immediately to the west of the Park is occupied mainly by farmers of the Humbi tribe. They also farm with pigs, and cultivate mahango grain, on a subsistence basis. Though fairly densely populated, the condition of the veld in the area suggests that it is not over grazed. The Humbi, like the Himba of Namibia, appear be more environmentally aware than most of their neighbouring brothers, especially when it comes to the cutting down of trees.

The area is scenic, well farmed, lies along the Cunene River, has a National Park on its doorstep and is served by a good sandy road connecting it to Xangongo – all the ingredients required for the area to be developed successfully into a tourism area.

Members of the Dolofi San clan – July, 2007.

We were taken to a San clan comprising 10 individuals, living in a small village, Dolofi (S=15.98409o, E=15.17367 o) near Quiteve. They appeared wary of us, which we ascribed to the fact that we were accompanied by the local government officials, which they apparently fundamentally distrust.

It appears that, with the exception of one or two clans comprising 60 individuals, all of the San have been moved out of the Park, where they had previously resided. Again, the idea was to settle them together in one or two central locations, “where they could receive governmental services such as medical and schooling”. It was impossible for us to visit the San still living in the Park due to the absence of roads in the area.

The total San population in Area 4, excluding the 60 individuals still living in the Park, was approximately 140 individuals, according to the Administrador. They occurred in a 15 kilometer band stretching northwards from just north of Camba, all along the western banks of the Cunene River up to Mulondo, including the towns of Muriatecholo, Santa Terizinia and Quiteve.

The San’s socio economic status appeared similar to that of the areas described above.

Mother and baby, at Dolofi - July 2007.

They indicated that they did not hunt any more and did not even own a set of bow and arrows. Occasionally they snared some guinea fowl and caught springhare. They still relied on veld foods (wild prickly pears and the fruits of the Baobab, Jackal Berry and also one of the Strychnos trees). They received no government food assistance, relying mainly on the bartering of their labour for food from the local black tribes, by tending their cattle and mahango grain crops. They did not own any animal stocks but were beginning to plant small patches of Mahango, for their own use. They owned a few dogs.

Since water and food is available to the San on a reasonably steady basis, they are not nomadic anymore.

Although they have knowledge of traditional San musical instruments, they do not own nor play it any anymore.

They indicated that they did come into contact with the San of Hombo and Hoque occasionally.

Conclusion: The approximately 200 San that are left in Area 4 have almost all been moved from their ancestral lands in Mupa National Park (Area 4) and are being concentrated in settlements near Quiteve. Socio economically they find themselves in a parlous state, as is the case with all the other San groups that we visited in Angola.

Areas 5 - 8

We attempted to visit Areas 5 – 8, all lying within Cuando Cubango Province, by road.

Originally, we attempted to access the area from Moxico Province’s capital, Luena. We planned to travel southwards, via Lumbala and Chiume. Enquiries at the police and military bases of Luena quickly revealed that it was practically impossible to travel the route, due to the fact that half of the bridges over more than 50 rivers that would have to be crossed, were destroyed and had yet to be rebuilt. Also, the distances were extreme, without any fuel supplies available at all, and finally, the area was riddled with unmarked and uncleared landmine fields.

We then decided to attempt to access the area from Cunene Province’s capital, N’Giva. We got as far as Nehone, some 75km north-east of N’Giva. Enquiries there revealed that we would be faced with the same obstacles if we attempted this western access. We had no choice but to turn back.

We were therefore unable to visit any of Areas 5 – 8’s San and are unable to report on their status.

On the basis of the (incomplete) information that was obtained regarding the San of Angola, the 1970 ethnographic distribution map in respect of Areas 1 – 4 only can be revised, now representing a total San population of approximately 1700 individuals only, as shown below. Note that the group of Hoque San in the “new” area has been consolidated with the group of Area 2, because of the geographical proximity of the two groups now. The distributions in Areas 1 and 3 have therefore disappeared. (At the rate that cattle farming is currently being expanded in Areas 1 and 3, it is unlikely that the San will ever return there in numbers again).

Conclusions

The ethnographic information concerning the San of Angola, as reported above, is probably the first that has come to light since the last official census that was taken before the war, in 1970. (The Angolan government has indicated that they intend carrying out a national population census in 2010. Hopefully it will more thoroughly clarify the ethnographic status of the Angolan San). It will hopefully serve, as an interim measure, to indicate the direction in which the future of the San of Angola will be moving, if left unchecked.

By all indications the San have suffered terribly as a result of the war. Subsequent to the ending of the war, and to the independence of the country, they are now being systematically robbed of their ancestral hunting and gathering lands, continuing to this day. They are increasingly being pressured into moving into centralized settlements under the pretence of administrative convenience, with the hidden intent of obtaining their land for the settlement of cattle farmers.

The Angolan government is, no doubt, currently preoccupied with major issues concerning the reconstruction of the physical and social infrastructure of the country. Within this context the issue of the well-being and future of the San of Angola almost certainly ranks near the bottom of their list. The San’s extreme minority status does also not help their cause.

It is hoped that NGO’s dealing with minority issues will attend to the matter, on behalf of the San of Angola.

Note: The author wishes to hear from interested parties should they have any information pertaining to the San of Angola that could contribute towards improving the accuracy of the 2007 ethnographic map shown in the article, at rulan [at] imageafrica.net