G/wi
Joy in a San Community
Jumanda Gakelebone, a spokesperson for the San people, indicated that they are in a joyous mood, celebrating the opening of a new borehole for the community of Mothomelo. “Our dignity and right as a people has been restored,” he said. But, he added in a more somber spirit, it is also appropriate to remember those […]
G/wi Will Soon Get Water
The Gem Diamonds Company announced last week that it will be helping finance and drill four boreholes to provide water for the G/wi and the other San communities in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. This latest development appears to be closing a nasty chapter in the history of San conflicts with the dominant societies of […]
Will the G/wi Win Respect?
Respect is one of the most significant features of peaceful peoples, an essential element in the maintenance of their harmony. A lack of respect bedevils the G/wi as they struggle with the government of Botswana to overcome the discrimination they face. Requests that they be treated just as respectfully as all the other citizens of […]
San Situation in the News Again
The G/wi and the other San peoples of Botswana were back in court last week, pleading again for the right to reopen a borehole for water to serve their homes in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The five judges of the Botswana Court of Appeals took most of the day to hear their lawyer, and […]
Botswana versus Survival International
The war of words between Survival International and the government of Botswana over the treatment of the G/wi has intensified recently, an unfortunate development for a society that has been characterized as highly peaceful. Survival, a London-based indigenous rights NGO, apparently found the way to really capture the attention of the government and the general […]
Survival International Campaigns for the G/wi
One of the major factors in building any peaceful society is the element of respect, an essential characteristic of traditional G/wi society but one which has been missing in recent negotiations about their future. The New York Times last Friday focused on that issue, at least briefly. The Times became the latest major news source […]
Botswana’s Contest with the G/wi
The war of words about the persecution of the San societies in Botswana grew ever hotter last week, though calls for compromise may yet prompt a peaceful resolution of the matter—in line with the heritage, at least, of the G/wi people. A hopeful reading of the news suggests the possibility that both sides of the […]
Botswana’s Abuses of the G/wi [journal article review]
The destruction of the peaceful G/wi society is supposedly the fault of a British NGO, Survival International (SI), rather than the government of Botswana, which was only trying to help them when it forcibly removed them from their homes, argues one scholar. Botswana’s government may have acted in a heavy-handed manner, she writes, but SI […]
Botswana San Lose their Appeal for Water
The government of Botswana won its case in the nation’s High Court last week, where it sought to prevent the San people from having access to water in their homes. The court decided against the G/wi and G//ana San, who had requested access to water, and in favor of the government, which wants to permanently […]
San Peoples Sue for Water
The G/wi and G//ana San peoples of the Kalahari Desert are going to appeal again to the High Court of their country for relief from persecution by Botswana’s national government. The San won their suit against the government in the High Court in 2006, which gave them the right to return to their homes in […]
