Drama ensued near President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office in South Africa’s Pretoria when police officers uprooted several cannabis plants growing near the facility.
According to the BBC, activists from the indigenous Khoisan community, some of whom have camped in the area for three years planted the narcotic herb in a vegetable garden near the President’s office.
When law enforcement officers stormed the area, the leader of the said community who calls himself King Khoisan resisted arrest. He clung to a large cannabis plant as police dragged him away in a tug of war fashion.
While refusing to loosen his grips on the cannabis plant, he screamed: “Police… you have declared war.”
As the AFP news agency quoted him, he continued: “We have been here peacefully. We are coming for you.”
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The AFP further quotes a statement from officials which says King Khoisan and other activists have been detained for “dealing in dagga [cannabis], illegal plantation and cultivation of dagga as well as failure to wear a face mask in public when ordered to do so by a police officer.”
South Africa decriminalised personal use of cannabis in private places in 2018.
The Khoisan are South Africa’s oldest inhabitants but now form a small minority in the country.
Reports say the group set up camp on the green space outside the president’s office, near a giant statue of Nelson Mandela, to campaign for the official recognition of their language in 2018.
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