Alarming news about the brutal ways Botswana has been treating the G/wi and the other San peoples of the Kalahari sometimes seems to never end. One story last week indicated that government repressions have increased, but another report was much more positive. The good news first. The positive report was… Continue reading…
President Ian Khama of Botswana announced last week that as of 2014 his government will no longer issue any hunting licenses. Some observers suspect that this is the latest government attack on the G/wi and the other minority San peoples of the Kalahari desert. The government responds that the measure… Continue reading…
The Botswana police forces are once again harassing the San in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), despite the fact that they have the legal right to live there. The San societies in the CKGR include the peaceful G/wi. Survival International reported last week that the Botswana police established a… Continue reading…
Some of the G/wi who have returned to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve have mixed feelings about conditions in the bush, though they don’t miss the alcohol and violence of the resettlement communities they left behind to return to the desert. The residents of Molapo appreciate the quiet in the… Continue reading…
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… Continue reading…
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… Continue reading…
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… Continue reading…
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… Continue reading…
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… Continue reading…
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… Continue reading…
