Forum events

Patricia Glyn- The first people of Africa

Patricia Glyn, South African eco-adventurer, spent time with Dawid Kruiper the elected traditional leader of the Khomani Bushman clan, investigating whether restitution was achieved when the Bushman clan won a land claim for 25 000 hectares of land within the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (Kgalagadi). Patricia’s fascinating journey not only exposes what the cruel injustices of the past have stolen from the Bushman but also illustrates the lessons that form part of Southern African history.

Category:

Forum Events

Start date:

21 February 2012

Arrival time:

17:45

Start Time:

18:00

Additional event information:

Cocktails will be served after the event.

Venue:

GIBS 26 Melville Road Illovo

Forum Fee:

R 250

Name:

Natalie

e-Mail:

forumadmin@gibs.co.za

Telephone:

011 771 4390

Patricia Glyn, South African eco-adventurer, recently spent time with Dawid Kruiper the elected traditional leader of the Khomani Bushman clan, investigating whether restitution was achieved when the Bushman clan won a land claim for 25 000 hectares of land within the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (Kgalagadi), their ancestral land in 1999.

What she learned is that the Khomani Bushman clan, who live in an informal settlement in Welkom, have had no access to most of their land as a result of a lack of transport into the Kgalagadi which is over 100kms from their place of residence and how winning the land claim has failed to bridge the massive divide between the community’s elders, who hold the community’s forgotten history and culture, and the younger generation who are faced with the current challenges of living in modern South Africa. And she has seen how the community struggles with social issues such as alcoholism, dire poverty and poor living standards, which is at odds with their illustrious origins as Africa’s ‘First People’. Patricia is now well placed to present a perspective on just what the Khomani people have lost in the 80 years that they’ve been living in historical and cultural limbo.

Patricia’s fascinating journey not only exposes what the cruel injustices of the past have stolen from the Khomani Bushman but also illustrates the lessons that form part of Southern Africa’s social history and teaches us about the true meaning of environmental management. At the heart of the journey though is a group of irreverent story tellers, free spirits, hilarious mimics and loving people.

The talk would be an opportunity to learn more about a piece of South African history – one that has been largely untold.

Speaker:

Patricia Glyn is a familiar face and voice to South African audiences, having been in broadcasting for 15 years. On radio she’s remembered best for 'Patricia’s People' – a programme which profiled the great explorers, scientists, historians and eccentrics of the world. On TV, she’s hosted many different shows, among them the controversial documentary series ‘Point Blank’.

Documentaries have remained a passion throughout her career. She covered a lone horsewoman’s attempt to cross Africa from coast to coast; she spent three days with the dead in the Johannesburg mortuary and she begged at downtown traffic lights with a piece of cardboard and a hidden camera.

In 2002, Patricia and 13 of her listeners walked 500 kilometres from the lowest to the highest points of Zimbabwe at a rate of 50 kilometres per day. Their efforts raised much needed funds for the animals suffering horribly as a result of political turmoil in that country. She’s canoed sections of several of Africa’s great rivers, she’s climbed Kilimanjaro twice, and Aconcagua (the highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere) once – all but the last 300 metres when the team was beaten back by a killer storm. The experience was so terrifying that she ain’t going back for the rest!

In 2003, Patricia spent three months at Mount Everest, reporting on the Discovery team’s efforts to stand on top of the world. Her daily journal describing life on this great mountain was later published as a popular book called ‘Off Peak’.

More recently, in 2005, she walked from Durban to the Victoria Falls in the footsteps of two of her ancestors who got to the Falls shortly after David Livingstone. The two thousand kilometre journey took her along the old hunter/trader routes to the interior of Africa, often off-road and often in Big Five territory. It gave her unique insights into the life of people and animals on our stupendous continent and renewed passion for its preservation.

‘Footing with Sir Richard’s Ghost’ is the book Patricia wrote about this odyssey and it is a bestseller in South Africa.