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| Bushman woman, CKGR, Botswana 2004
© Stephen Corry/Survival |
The Government was justified in removing the Basarwa [Bushmen'] from the
Reserve… It is sensible of Government to take such action. Otherwise who would
always want to remain in the Dark Ages while others move forward?' Louis
Nchindo, Managing Director, Debswana (De Beers's Botswana subsidiary).
The Botswana government has carved up nearly all the homeland of the Gana and
Gwi Bushmen and Bakgalagadi of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) for
diamond exploration. Most concessions were given around the time that it forced
the Bushmen from their homes last year.
The multinational BHP Billiton has most concessions. It has established a
subsidiary company, Kalahari Diamonds, which was recently given US$2 million by
the World Bank. Kalahari Diamonds has in turn set up another subsidiary, Godi,
to carry out the exploration. The only Botswana citizen on the Godi board is
Archie Mogwe, Senior Political Adviser to the President of Botswana, and former
Minister of Mineral Resources. De Beers, which already retains a diamond deposit
in the Reserve, has also increased the number of its concessions.
No Bushmen from the CKGR have been consulted by the companies or government
about these developments on their land. One told Survival, We are not
blind. We know that the government is taking us out because of something. We
know that the area is very rich in diamonds.'
The Gana and Gwi are hunter-gatherers who have lived for thousands of years
on their land. In 1961 much of their land was turned into the Central Kalahari
Game Reserve to protect the game on which they depended. But over the last 17
years, the Botswana government has conducted a campaign of harassment to drive
them out, culminating in the destruction of their water borehole last year. Most
were forcibly evicted and now live in bleak camps outside the Reserve where
alcoholism, HIV/AIDS, and boredom are rife.
Despite intense intimidation, about 50 Bushmen refused to leave the CKGR. At
least 50 more who were evicted have returned. However they face continual
pressure by local officials to leave, have little water and have been banned
from hunting. People from the camps have to obtain permits to visit the Reserve,
are restricted to short stays, and are not allowed to bring in food or water for
their relatives.
The Botswana government refuses to discuss the Bushmen's right to live on
their own land in peace. Instead it has hired a PR company to counter the
international campaign in support of the Bushmen; the permanent secretary in the
Mines Ministry (and deputy Chairman of Debswana) Dr A Tombale recently described
Survival as a terrorist' organisation; and the government has banned all
Survival materials from the country's schools.
Asked by Survival what its indigenous peoples policy is, De Beers has
admitted it does not have one, saying bizarrely that having a separate policy on
indigenous rights would lead to apartheid! In Canada, however, a strong
indigenous rights movement has forced the company to make agreements with Indian
peoples whose lands it wants to explore. De Beers seems to accept indigenous
rights in countries where it has no choice, but it does not want such notions to
take root close to home in southern Africa. The head of the main Australian
Aboriginal organisation calls De Beers's attitude nonsensical and
offensive'.
Meanwhile, in a very encouraging sign for the Gana and Gwi, another
indigenous people now known as the Richtersvelders has won an historic court
ruling in South Africa. The Supreme Court of Appeal has recently ruled that they
have a legal right to their land, despite the fact that they have never been
given title deeds and the government had always assumed that they had no rights.
Like the Gana and Gwi, the Richtersvelders live in an area that is rich in
diamonds. This is bound to worry the Botswana government and De Beers, as
Botswana's system of law is similar to South Africa's.
According to international law the Gana and Gwi have the right to decide for
themselves how they wish to live, and to remain on their land. They have
appealed to Survival for help in their struggle to return to their land.
