E/CN.4/2006/78/Add.2 page 8 report concludes by stating that “is a society founded on human rights and respect of human dignity, the dignity of all indigenous communities in South Africa needs to be restored and enhanced”.2 18. The Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) recognized in its 2004 report on the Khoi-San communities in South Africa that the Khoi-San have, over years of colonial and apartheid rule suffered, like other previously disadvantaged communities, the denial of their rights and denigration of their cultural and value systems, and they were later classified as “Coloureds” under the old race classification laws.3 19. In November 2004, the Cabinet adopted a memorandum that would lead to an official policy on recognizing “vulnerable indigenous communities” as a result of more than eight years of negotiations by Khoi and San activists, considered to be an important achievement of the national efforts within the context of the International Decade on the World’s Indigenous People. The Government has decided not to resolve the issue of Khoi and San traditional leadership within the existing framework applied to the rest of traditional chiefs, an area requiring further attention following the adoption of the Cabinet memorandum in 2004. III. HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN SOUTH AFRICA: PRIORITY ISSUES A. The ongoing debate on recognition 20. As there is no internationally agreed upon definition of indigenous peoples, states adopt different definitions in terms of their particular contexts and circumstances. The term indigenous is frequently used interchangeably with other terms, such as “aboriginal”, “native”, “original”, “first nations”, or else “tribal” or other similar concepts. 21. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, at its 34th Ordinary Session, adopted the report of the African Commission’s Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities. In this report, the Commission recognizes the concerns over the use of the term “indigenous peoples” in the African context but also considers that within the majority population, which is indigenous to the continent, some groups are in a structurally subordinate position to the dominating groups and the State, leading to marginalization and discrimination. It is in this context that the indigenous concept should be addressed.4 22. This is also the position, which has been taken by the Government of South Africa and by the civil society organizations involved in the protection and promotion of the human rights of indigenous peoples in South Africa. For example, the South African Human Rights Commission considers that “the 1996 Constitution provides an important framework for the restoration of the identity of the San and Khoi peoples as well as any other indigenous peoples in South Africa”. 23. There is at present no accepted South African norm as to the meaning of indigenous, a term that appears twice in the Constitution (arts. 6 and 26). Familiarity with South African political discourse suggests that “indigenous”, as it is used in the Constitution, refers to the languages and legal customs of majority Bantu-language speakers in contrast to those of the minority European settler populations.5