The indigenous San or hunter-gatherer bushmen of Botswana's Central Kalahari region are a people in danger of loosing their traditional roots as they enter the new millennium. Botswanan authorities say they are trying to help the San. But critics of government policy charge the San are simply victims of human rights abuses and a longstanding policy of discrimination. Here is part two of my 1998 series:
Just how well or how poorly the San are treated depends on your perspective. Botswana's President Festus Mogae calls them a "favored" group and says they are given everything by the government for free -- even cattle.
But in an interview, Mr. Mogae says that if the San want to benefit from such government schemes, they must leave the vast expanse of the Central Kalahari -- now a game reserve, but once an area set aside for the exclusive use of this tiny semi-nomadic ethnic group.
“Now they say they want to own cattle, they want to own goats and sheep and we say, ‘look, if you want to own cattle, goats and sheep and also to bear arms, you have to get out of the park.’"
But those San who have relocated outside the reserve, lured by the promise of free livestock and better access to modern amenities, may well have been misled. The US State Department's annual human rights report on Botswana this past year said those arriving at new government-sponsored settlements found services and facilities that were either substandard or non-existent.
The State Department report says the San or Basarwa, as they are known in Botswana, have been marginalized. They have lost access to their traditional land and are vulnerable to exploitation. It says their progress in society has been hampered by not only by their isolation but also by their ignorance of civil rights and lack of representation in local or national government.
Alice Mogwe of Botswana's Ditshwanelo human rights center says bluntly that the San or Basarwa are the victims of generations of discrimination.
“They are not encouraged to be proud of who they are. It's insulting to be called Sarwa. People use it as a term of insult..."
Ms. Mogwe and other activists concerned with the plight of the San believe they should be treated as partners in the development of the Central Kalahari, whether for tourism, mining or whatever. But she says the movement of the San into government settlements outside the reserve is killing their culture.
“When the custodians of a culture are marginalized, the culture itself will become marginalized and it will become weaker. And I think that is what's beginning to happen. The link with the land is incredibly important.”
As recently as two years ago, diplomats and other observers were taken to the remote town of Xade in the Central Kalahari, where a small community of San lived. There they heard government officials say the bushmen would not be forced to leave the reserve.
Yet today Xade is empty and lifeless. Only a few abandoned huts and animal pens remain along with a few government buildings where visitors register their presence in the park.
Asked why the San have gone, the woman who runs the office shrugs and says she does not know.
“Ask the Director of Wildlife, maybe he knows something...he doesn't tell us.”
Witnesses say that despite promises by the Botswana government, the residents of Xade were threatened -- even with military action -- if they did not agree to move. Activists familiar with the plight of the San say that not all have left the reserve, however. They believe as many as 400 are still resisting resettlement and remain effectively hidden away in even more remote parts of the Central Kalahari, far from the reach of a civilization that has all but destroyed them.
Just how well or how poorly the San are treated depends on your perspective. Botswana's President Festus Mogae calls them a "favored" group and says they are given everything by the government for free -- even cattle.
But in an interview, Mr. Mogae says that if the San want to benefit from such government schemes, they must leave the vast expanse of the Central Kalahari -- now a game reserve, but once an area set aside for the exclusive use of this tiny semi-nomadic ethnic group.
“Now they say they want to own cattle, they want to own goats and sheep and we say, ‘look, if you want to own cattle, goats and sheep and also to bear arms, you have to get out of the park.’"
But those San who have relocated outside the reserve, lured by the promise of free livestock and better access to modern amenities, may well have been misled. The US State Department's annual human rights report on Botswana this past year said those arriving at new government-sponsored settlements found services and facilities that were either substandard or non-existent.
The State Department report says the San or Basarwa, as they are known in Botswana, have been marginalized. They have lost access to their traditional land and are vulnerable to exploitation. It says their progress in society has been hampered by not only by their isolation but also by their ignorance of civil rights and lack of representation in local or national government.
Alice Mogwe of Botswana's Ditshwanelo human rights center says bluntly that the San or Basarwa are the victims of generations of discrimination.
“They are not encouraged to be proud of who they are. It's insulting to be called Sarwa. People use it as a term of insult..."
Ms. Mogwe and other activists concerned with the plight of the San believe they should be treated as partners in the development of the Central Kalahari, whether for tourism, mining or whatever. But she says the movement of the San into government settlements outside the reserve is killing their culture.
“When the custodians of a culture are marginalized, the culture itself will become marginalized and it will become weaker. And I think that is what's beginning to happen. The link with the land is incredibly important.”
As recently as two years ago, diplomats and other observers were taken to the remote town of Xade in the Central Kalahari, where a small community of San lived. There they heard government officials say the bushmen would not be forced to leave the reserve.
Yet today Xade is empty and lifeless. Only a few abandoned huts and animal pens remain along with a few government buildings where visitors register their presence in the park.
Asked why the San have gone, the woman who runs the office shrugs and says she does not know.
“Ask the Director of Wildlife, maybe he knows something...he doesn't tell us.”
Witnesses say that despite promises by the Botswana government, the residents of Xade were threatened -- even with military action -- if they did not agree to move. Activists familiar with the plight of the San say that not all have left the reserve, however. They believe as many as 400 are still resisting resettlement and remain effectively hidden away in even more remote parts of the Central Kalahari, far from the reach of a civilization that has all but destroyed them.
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