Upington’s AfriForum and AfriForum Youth held a march in cooperation with the Red Sakkie se Arkie Aksiegroep (RSAA) and about 300 Upington community members on 16 August to hand over a petition with more than 2 300 signatures to the Dawid Kruiper Municipality.
With the petition, AfriForum, AfriForum Youth and RSAA demand that the Municipality meet with them within seven days to find an alternative solution for preserving Sakkie se Arkie in Upington, except for the pending court case. The Municipality received the petition and memorandum and promised to answer the group within seven days.
The march followed after the Municipality allegedly sold the land from which the boat is operated and refused to discuss any other options for the preservation of the Arkie.
“We want to preserve Sakkie se Arkie, as the community has access to the river through this boat. It is also the canoe club’s residence, and the Arkie is a popular tourist attraction,” says Werner Strauss, march leader of RSAA.
“Even though Mayor Limakatso Koloi indicated that she would answer Sakkie in writing on this issue, the action group would prefer to meet with the relevant parties to find a workable solution to preserve Sakkie se Arkie. It appears that the municipality does not take the action group’s request for a meeting to heart, and still want to enter into a court case,” says Marike van As, AfriForum Youth’s Coordinator for Upington.