A Khoisan king has said there is nothing wrong with the use of the word k****r.King of the Hamqumqa Royal house of the Khoi Khoi and San people, Daniel Brown, was responding to a question after an “ambassador” of the kingdom, Grady Brooks, twice used the k-word in his speech at a Human Right’s Day celebration.
The celebrations were held at Parkside Hall on Saturday where the entire programme was done in Afrikaans.
The Daily Dispatch was invited by Brooks via e-mail to attend the king’s visit to East London saying: “It would be an honour and privilege if you could avail one of your reporters to cover this historical event.”
Brooks, addressing about 100 people, said he wanted to teach people how to respond to black people.
He said: “I am not talking to anyone specific, but I want to teach you what to say to k****rs when they say coloureds are a mix of them and white people,” Brooks said.
Contacted to comment on the use of the k-word yesterday, Brown defended Brooks’ behaviour.
He raised his voice and shouted: “Do you know what the word means? Did you go to university? I am the king and it is my constitutional right to call my people together and address them.
“If you want to publish anything about the event then write we were commemorating our fallen heroes.
“If you write anything negative about the event I will sue you and your newspaper. I will take you to court. Don’t be clever,” he said.
“You are disrespectful to the king of the Khoisan. You have not been groomed correctly. You first call me Sir; I am not your damned sir, I am your king! You are trying to be clever. Go to hell!” he said before hanging up.
Buffalo City Metro DA councillor Johannes Green, who was in the crowd during the address, expressed disappointment at the use of racial slurs.
“I was not expecting this to happen. I thought they would talk about culture and language and how to keep it relevant in modern day society,” Green said.
Khoisan activist Christian Martin, who is also an ANC member of the provincial legislature and a former member of the Eastern Cape executive council, could not be reached for comment at the time of writing. — siyab@dispatch.co.za