A good dozen Khoi-San in traditional costume had gathered for prayers, songs and a ceremony near the Liesbeek and Black Rivers in Cape Town.

But this time it wasn't just about faith and tradition.

Representatives of the indigenous peoples celebrated.

They had just won a stage win in a year-long dispute over the location of Amazon's new Africa headquarters.

Claudia Bröll

Freelance Africa correspondent based in Cape Town.

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An Amazon campus with several thousand jobs and a new business complex are to be built on the green area, which the Khoi-San regard as a "sacred place".

The project costs the equivalent of 275 million euros.

But the Cape Town authorities, the contractors and presumably the American corporation itself had underestimated the resistance of some members of the population, believed to be the oldest people in the world and oppressed for centuries.

At the end of last week, a court decided to temporarily stop the already well-advanced construction work on the controversial "River Club" project.

Judge Patricia Goliath said the real estate company had to "keep in touch with the critical Khoi San groups and have real consultations."

The location selected for Amazon is a historically important place for them.

Even some activists did not expect this.

"We are impressed by our jurisdiction," says Tauriq Jenkins in an interview with the FAZ. "The court sets an example that cultural heritage must not be destroyed for economic reasons." According to him, there were 74,000 objections, more than 20 organizations wanted stop the project, including environmentalists and citizens' groups.

Another Khoi San group, on the other hand, supported the project in court.

But despite the protests and the ongoing legal proceedings, the construction work had progressed at a rapid pace.

"It was traumatic watching the excavators," says Jenkins.

Permanent damage was probably done.

Not only the meeting of the two rivers makes the place a special place for the Khoi-San.

It was also around there that one of the first liberation and resistance struggles by indigenous peoples against European settlers took place.

In 1510 a Khoi group was said to have successfully defended itself against Portuguese colonizers.

From his point of view, the area should therefore be declared a cultural heritage site.

The future of the Amazon Africa headquarters is still open

The other side, in turn, refers to the economic importance and the creation of urgently needed jobs.

Cape Town also has the opportunity to develop into a tech center in Africa.

The cloud computing provider Amazon Web Services already has a headquarters there. Urban planners and building contractors have also had their eye on the green space in a prime location for some time.

Thousands of drivers drive past it every day.

Few might have been aware of the importance of the site before the hype surrounding the real estate project.

Its future and the location for the Amazon Africa headquarters are open.

The court decision may be appealed.

There is little evidence that developers and the city will reach a compromise with the Khoi-San.

A longer freeze on construction could result in Amazon looking for another location.