Human rights activist and cleric, Reverend Allan Boesak has thrown his weight behind the campaign by indigenous people to keep the site of the controversial River Club development "sacred".
Boesak expressed his support to the Khoi and San people at a meeting this week where indigenous leaders vowed to continue their fight against decisions that allowed construction on the site.
The statements come amid concerns that construction on the site might be completed even before the court review of the environmental and land use rights granted by the provincial government and the City are heard in court.
The Western Cape High Court has yet to set a date for the appeal hearing.
On November 8 the Western Cape High Court dismissed Judge Patricia Goliath's interim interdict which put a halt on construction, pending a meaningful consultation with all affected indigenous groups and a court review of the authorisations.
Goliath also said in her ruling that if the construction was to be allowed to continue there was a danger that the developers, Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust (LLPT), might build themselves into "an impregnable position".
Boesak described the court ruling overturning Goliath's as a "tragedy", not only for the Goringhaicona Khoi Khon Traditional Indigenous Council (GKKTC) but also for "oppressed" South Africans.
"What is happening to the Goringhaicona in our courts and in the halls of capitalism will happen to every single group in this country, if we do not stand together. We will fight neo-colonialism wherever it rears its ugly head," he said.
Boesak also said there was a "lot at stake" regarding the River Club development at the confluence of the Liesbeek and Black Rivers which required the indigenous people to remain resolute in opposing it.
"We shall fight until every person in authority not only recognises that it is about the fundamental issues for all South Africa's people.
"We hold the land at the Liesbeek River to be sacred, to be historically ours, the land of indigenous people. We have seen the disdain in which our claim to history and respect is being held by those in authority in this province and nationally. We will fight for the land," he said.
Boesak reiterated calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on the restoration of land to "its rightful owners".
"We need a TRC that will not merely begin halfway through colonisation and apartheid, but from 1652. We need the world to hear about the genocide of the San and Khoi people, just as it needs to be reminded of the genocide of the Nama and Herero people in Namibia and the millions of Congolese people,“ he said.
Chief of the Nama people in South Africa, Marthinus Fredericks also called on the San and Khoi people to rally behind the "elected spokesperson", Tauriq Jenkins who had come under attack recently by those in support of the development.
"The southern African Khoi Kingdom Council will stand by him. We will not be bullied by those with a big budget. We will fight for the truth. We do not support the development on the site that is connected to our spiritual being," said Fredericks.
Activist Bradley van Sitters said the struggles of indigenous people were similar across the world.
"When I speak to my brothers in Australia, Canada and in South America, they tell me the same thing. We're all fighting for our sacred land. We're all fighting for what is left of our sacredness," he said.
Princess Khoeses Charné Kreeling of the Griqua Royal Council said history would hold indigenous people accountable for what happened to the land.
"We honour those that came before us and we acknowledge that we are on borrowed time to those that come after us,“ she said.
The R4.5 billion development will accommodate the African headquarters for global IT giant, Amazon Web Services.
However, indigenous people had in earlier court hearings argued that the developers could have chosen any other site rather than the "sacred" site.
Court papers showed that other sites including the V&A Waterfront and Canal Walk could have been considered.
LLPT consistently argued that it would suffer penalties from Amazon and its financiers if there were construction delays and it did not meet the deadlines.