No water for San

2008-05-12 21:32

Gabarone - The Botswana government banned Central Kalahari Game Reserve San (Bushmen) from accessing their own water but gave permission for a tourist lodge to do so, Survival International said on Monday.

"Who does the government think will want to sip their drinks and gaze at the Kalahari sunset while desperately thirsty Bushmen look on?" the worldwide organisation's director Stephen Corry said.

"As long as the Bushmen are kept off their land, refused the right to hunt for food, and even refused water, the government's efforts to promote tourism will be tainted with injustice," he said.

The organisation said a South African company, The Safari & Adventure Company, had been awarded a concession in the reserve which was close to the San community of Molapo.

The concession had been promoted at the Indaba tourism fair in Durban last week.

Boreholes

"But despite the Botswana High Court ruling that the Bushmen have the constitutional right to live in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, the Botswana government is doing everything it can to keep them out, denying them access to water and the right to hunt for food," the organisation said.

It said the company had been granted permission to sink boreholes to obtain water for its staff to drink, shower, and cook with - but the Botswana government had refused to allow the San to use even a single borehole inside the reserve.

"It has instead told them to make a 400km round trip to fetch water."

According to Survival International, the Bushmen had not been consulted about the tourist lodge that would be built on their land.

The Botswana Embassy in Pretoria could not immediately comment.

- SAPA