Platfontein is a community located in an arid region of the Northern Cape Province, 15 kilometers outside the city of Kimberley.
[1] In both Namibia and Angola, the !Kung and the Khwe were militarised first by the Portuguese Army during the Angolan War of Independence.
This war service was not always voluntary: in 1998 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard several first-hand accounts of forced conscription and brutal treatment of men in the battalion.
In May 1999, former South African President Nelson Mandela presented the community with the title deed for this land.
Despite being relocated and settled together, the !Kung and Khwe have chosen to live in different parts of the settlement due to differences in the community; in Platfontein the basic services that are available are a school, two shops, a municipal building and a health clinic which both the !Kung and Khwe share.
The San of Platfontein are traditionally nomadic, moving around in search of food and making temporary dwellings.
[6] The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has a radio station called X-K FM located in Platfontein.