by MTOKOZISI DUBE
One wonders whether the conflict between the Botswana Government and Basarwa (Bushmen or San) over their land rights will ever come to an end.
Despite all the global attention, it does not look like the government will budge any soon.
Not even Basarwa’s recent plea to the UN to intervene and ensure the government respects their land and resource rights seems to have shaken the government.
Instead, the government accuses ‘foreigners’, particularly the British rights lobby group, Survival International (SI), of putting the Bushmen on a pedestal to oppose a legitimately elected government.
Just last week, a government official condemned SI following their statement which alleged harassment against the native Basarwa in the Central Kgalagadi/Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR).
The UK based organisation was faulted for trying to justify its existence by peddling lies about Botswana and trying to dictate to the government how it should run the country.
The accusations came barely a month after an activist said the eviction of the Basarwa from the diamond-rich reserve of Gope in central Botswana was meant to aid mining, something the government had repeatedly denied.
The activist’s conclusion stemmed from the on-going mining activities at the CKGR where Gem Diamond revealed they had already used $17 million to develop its Ghagoo underground mine in a bid to produce its first diamonds from the deposits by mid-2013.
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