 |
| Bushman children, CKGR, Botswana 2004
© 2004 Stephen Corry/Survival |
A play telling the story of the eviction of the Gana and Gwi Bushmen
and their campaign to return to their land is being staged in
Bloemfontein in South Africa next week.
Venue: Performing Arts Centre of the Free State (PACOFS)
Dates: 2, 3, 4 and 5 October 2006
Time: 7.30pm
Ticket price: R20
Box office: (+27) (051) 447 7772
South African community development worker Elijah Molahlehi wrote
'Survival in the Wilderness' after visiting the evicted Bushmen at New
Xade resettlement camp. He said, 'Visiting New Xade was really
something, where people are homeless, their houses were destroyed in
the times of eviction…. Everyone is saying "WE WANT TO GO BACK HOME."
'The government is claiming development, but the reality is, the
government is oppressing the Basarwa [Bushman] people, starting with
their lies about development…. The Basarwa people didn't use money
because they didn't need it. And now in New Xade, they need it but they
don't have it. There is no way to survive there, no hunting and no
planting.'
Playwright Charlotte Jones, whose hit adaptation of 'The Woman in
White' was staged in London's West End, said, 'I am so pleased that the
plight of the Bushmen of the Central Kalahari has been highlighted in
the form of a stage-play. All over the world indigenous people are
being dispossessed of their land and resources. I sincerely hope that
this drama will help bring their plight to a wider audience.'
'Survival in the Wilderness' was performed at the Oppenheimer Theatre in Welkom in 2005.
For more information contact Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org
