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| Bushman women, Namibia
© Mark Håkansson/Survival |
The Assistant Director in charge of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve,
Jan Broekhuis, has admitted in court that he ignored a 2001 Bushmen
proposal which would have maintained the Bushmen's water supply at zero
cost to the government. He explained that government policy dictated
simply that no services could be provided inside the reserve.
Although appearing for the government, his testimony shows that when
the government said it was evicting the Bushmen because it was 'too
expensive' to provide services such as water (the first reason given
for the evictions), this was a fabrication.
He also admitted that since 2002 any Bushman who wished to return home
must apply for a permit; if granted, these are only valid for a very
few days. The application must be made in writing (most of the Bushmen
are illiterate) and handed in 200 kms away. When asked whether making
such applications might be a problem for the Bushmen, the Assistant
Director claimed to have no knowledge about the level of Bushmen
illiteracy.
Last week Jan Broekhuis made the astonishing claim that it was possible
to draft a plan for managing the reserve without even knowing whether
the Bushmen were living there or not.
