Namibia San get land back

2007-03-24 14:23

Windhoek - Namibia had purchased two commercial farms near the Etosha National Park on behalf of a tribe of San who were evicted from their ancestral lands inside the famed game reserve 100 years ago, said a minister.

The government of the southwest African nation also planned to buy the Hai//om San tribe an additional four farms bordering Etosha, said Namibian environment and tourism minister Willem Konjore.

"This will lead to huge tourism potential for the Hai//om community," said Konjore, who declined to say how much the government was spending on the purchases.

Etosha is Namibia's premier tourist destination and the positions of the two farms could enable the tribe to cash in on overseas visitors.

The land grants come after more than a decade of protests by San tribesmen in Namibia, who were driven off their lands by colonial ruler Germany in 1907 to make way for the Etosha game park, which covers an area of 22 000sq km.

Bushmen known for rock paintings

An estimated 2 000 San live in Namibia, with most residing in communal settlements around the game park.

They are among a handful of surviving San tribes spread out across southern Africa, where their hunter gatherer ancestors were the first inhabitants about 20 000 years ago.

Known for their rock paintings and complicated "click" languages - sounds which, in print, are represented by symbols such as slashes, cross hatches and exclamation points - the San have long campaigned that they were driven off their ancestral lands and robbed of their traditional way of life.

"It is something we have waited for a long time," said Hai//om Chief David //Khamuxab.

The chief had lobbied the government to give the San at least two farms bordering Etosha.

San groups and their supporters were elated last year when Botswana's top court said San groups must be allowed to return to lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, a move the government had resisted.

- Reuters