Six sheep to be sacrificed at Granny’s Pool , St Francis Bay, this weekend

During a khoisan sacred gathering of about 100 delegates at Granny’s Pool in St Francis Bay from 28 February – 1 March six sheep will be sacrificed at the popular surfing spot between midnight and dawn on Saturday morning .
This has been announced today in a press release from the Kouga Mayor’s office. Mayor, Horatio Hendricks said the Khoi ritual will bring the culture of South Africa’s first nation to life at St Francis Bay this weekend.
A public gathering of the Khoi-San !Nau will take place at St Francis Bay renown surfing spot, ‘ Bruce’s’ which is currently also the venue of the popular local coffee bar.
According to provincial chairperson of the Links Royal House in the Eastern Cape, Paramount Chief Crawford Fraser,
“(Gaokx’oab Kai Anib), the !nau, which will be observed, is the Leadership !nau during which men and women become headmen and headwomen, or senior headmen and senior headwomen or ‘goakx’oab’ (chiefs).”
The event is being organised by the Links Royal House in partnership with the provincial Nama House, under Chief Cora Hennings, and the Oeswana Bushman Royal House, under Chief Jan Bekkies.
According to the press release, the delegates will assemble at the venue from 10 am on Friday. At sunset the !nau delegates will go into seclusion in temporary huts. The official traditional ceremony will start at midnight.
Three temporary huts will be constructed, one for men, one for women and a third for the sacred process. Before sunrise on Saturday morning, the delegates will undergo a cleansing ceremony and ritual sacrifices will take place from just after midnight to sunrise.
After sunrise, the traditional leadership and delegates will have breakfast, following which the official !nau progamme will start.”
The mayor said the official programme was expected to conclude just after 1 pm on Saturday. Then the public can join in the celebration, which will last until Sunday evening.
The mayor added that it was “an honour for Kouga to have been selected to host the sacred event.
“The municipality has had several meetings with the organising committee, under the leadership of the three houses. It is important for all of us that the event and ritual sacrifices happen in strict accordance with the relevant legislation”
A health inspector will be visiting the site each day to guide the organisers. The mayor said in terms of the agreement only six sheep will be sacrificed at the venue. All other sacrifices will take place off site, the mayor said.
The municipality is said to be working closely with the organisers to ensure all safety and fire regulations are met. Additional ablution facilities and waste collection services will also be available during the event.
Paramount Chief Fraser said the safety of all participants was of great importance to the organisers. “There will be an ambulance on site. A safety officer has also been appointed and there will be marshalls to help direct traffic and guide participants, as needed,” Chief Fraser said.