DOWN WITH THE CLICK

Khoisan teen finally gets his cultural name recognised on Mzansi ID in historic victory

- TRACY-LYNN RUITERS

!KHUBOAB Oedasoua Lawrence’s 18-year struggle to have his Khoisan name formally recognised has finally ended in a historic victory.

This week, he will receive his South African identity document reflecting his full cultural name, including the click (!) consonants central to his heritage.

The breakthrough follows reporting by the Weekend Argus in January, which highlighted the family’s longstanding challenge in having his indigenous name accurately captured on official records.

When !Khuboab was born in 2007, his mother, Lesle Jansen said the Department of Home Affairs informed her that his name could not be registered in its correct form because the language uses special characters, including the click (!) consonant represented by an exclamation mark.

She said: “They told me they would have to remove the special characters.

“Once you remove them, you change the meaning of the name completely.”