History
of
SASI
Organisation's Background and Growth
SASI
was established in June 1996 in response to a need expressed by the Working
Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA) and a number
of individuals who were working with San communities. WIMSA is the representative
body of the San leadership of southern Africa. Its members and executive
body are all San. WIMSA reviews its mandates with all service organisations,
including SASI, at its Annual General Meeting.
Presently
SASI is mandated to work on a national and regional level through the
creation of multi-disciplinary development projects in areas such as education,
leadership training, cultural resources management, land rights, intellectual
property rights, oral history collection and new approaches to community
mobilisation.
In
the areas of work where SASI does not have the requisite expertise, and
in an attempt to imbed the knowledge that has been gained through our
work, SASI actively seeks to work with other NGOs and government agencies.
SASI also forms part of various sectoral networks, such as land restitution
NGOs in the Northern Cape.
An
office in Cape Town provides administrative support to the activities
with the ‡Khomani San (Gordonia District) and the !Xun and Khwe communities
(Diamondfields District) in the Northern Cape Province. Field offices
in Upington and Kimberley support the work of field staff in or near community
settlements.
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