controversy over Amazon’s future headquarters in South Africa

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Contested in Europe and the United States for its anti-competitive practices and its working conditions deemed difficult, Amazon is not better received on the African continent. For several months, the Seattle giant has been trying to establish its African headquarters in South Africa but is meeting with the opposition of the local populations. Located in Cape Town, the land chosen to build these offices is considered sacred by the Khoisan people, descendants of the country’s first inhabitants.

“In March 2022, the South African justice had however considered that the fundamental right to culture and heritage of the Khoisan peoples was threatened and had decided to suspend the project. Judgment overturned on Tuesday 8 November by the Cape Town court, which deems the activist who represents these communities in court to be unlawful and who has distorted the point of view of some of its representatives, without consulting them”, specifies Rfi. Despite the firm opposition of these populations, Amazon has therefore been authorized, for a few days, to revive its construction project.

More than a land, a history, a heritage!

Estimated at over 300 million dollars, the construction of the future headquarters with an area of ​​15,000 square meters is therefore imminent. A reversal of the field that is perceived very badly by the locals. “This square is symbolic for the residents, because it is there that they managed to repel the Portuguese invasion in 1510. It is, again, in this place that the beginnings of the apartheid racist policy that marked for nearly 45 years the South African history of the 20th century”, details AfricaNews.

Faced with the reluctance of the indigenous people, Amazon is committed to building: “a historical and cultural centre, managed by the communities. Cape Town City Council approved it; sees significant economic opportunities there as well as in terms of jobs”, underlines RFI. A commitment that has convinced the authorities, prompting them to reconsider the refusal announced last March.