Story of the "Bokkie"

The eland icon used as the Freedom Challenge logo is taken from an image painted on the Linton Panel, which is currently housed in the South African Museum in Cape Town. It is a slab of San rock art that was removed from Linton farm in the Maclear district in the Eastern Cape in 1917. If you are standing at the top of Lehana’s Pass and look southwards down the spur towards the Mcambalala cattle post, Linton Farm is located about 5 kms beyond it on the eastern slope of the valley.

The panel is almost the Rosetta Stone of bushmen rock art. It provides a very accessible insight into the bushmen belief system. The illustration is thought to depict people capturing a power the /Xam called !Gi. The San are thought to have sought and used this power for the benefit of their community. It allowed for the healing of the sick and for the healing of divisions within society. San rock art was believed to be rich in this special power.

The eland itself was believed to have exceptional potency and illustrations served as metaphors of power.

Another figure from the same panel features as the central motif in the South African Coat of Arms