Court halts construction of Amazon's mainland headquarters in Africa

South African justice paralyzed the construction of Amazon's mainland headquarters in Africa, a complex in Cape Town, giving reason to indigenous groups claiming that this land is sacred, in a ruling published on Sunday.

A high court in Cape Town ordered property developers to make “commitments” and conduct “meaningful consultations” with the Khoisan people, who regard the land as a place of worship as a place of first resistance to European colonizers in 1510.

Construction had already begun on the four billion rand (262 million dollars, 231 million euros) complex, located on a site that was formerly a golf course.

“The fundamental right to culture and heritage of indigenous groups, most particularly the Khoi and San First Nations Peoples, is threatened in the absence of proper consultation,” the court said in a ruling dated March 18 but published on Sunday that does not expressly mention the messaging giant.

The ruling acknowledges that several Khoisan groups have supported the project, after the builders agreed to build on the site a heritage, cultural and media center to be operated by indigenous groups.

But the Traditional Khoi Khoin Indigenous Council of Goringhaicona and a neighborhood association asked the Western Cape High Court to stop the project.

The municipal authorities last year approved the construction of a nine-story commercial and residential complex on a completely new site. The offices will have a total area of 70,000 square meters, equivalent to almost 10 football fields.

Once known hunter-gatherers under the now-discarded label of Bushmen, the Khoisans suffered profoundly under colonization and apartheid.

Many in your community complain of still suffering great social inequalities and lack economic opportunities, and claim that their past continues to be ignored.

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