Lawyers and traditional healers unite in a sacred ceremony for the Rights of Table Mountain

A groundbreaking campaign is underway to grant Table Mountain legal personhood, led by environmental lawyer Cormac Cullinan, who first envisioned this radical idea over 20 years ago while writing his acclaimed book "Wild Law." Following New Zealand's recent recognition of Mount Taranaki as a legal entity, a diverse coalition of lawyers, activists, and traditional healers conducted a sacred ceremony on "Hoerikwaggo" (the indigenous name for Table Mountain) to formally request permission to pursue legal rights for the mountain.

The initiative builds on South Africa's successful Shell case, where courts recognised ancestral presence in the ocean, and represents part of a global Rights of Nature movement challenging the conventional view of natural features as mere "piles of rock." Rather than just seeking protection, the campaign aims to bridge the gap between how people actually experience Table Mountain as a living presence and how the law currently treats it as property.

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