PRESS RELEASE II OF THE NEGOTIATING TEAM, THE MANDATED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE RESIDENTS OF THE CENTRAL KALAHARI GAME RESERVE (CKGR)

RESIDENTS OF THE CKGR TAKE GOVERNMENT TO COURT

The residents of the CKGR, have taken the Government of Botswana to court. They are claiming the relief set out in paragraphs two and three of the Notice of Motion, which was filed on 19 February 2002, at the High Court in Lobatse.

The residents are claiming that the termination of services by the Government, to the CKGR is unlawful and unconstitutional. These services include the provision of drinking water, the provision of food rations to the registered destitutes and orphaned children, the provision of transport for children to and from school and the provision of healthcare.

The residents have also stated that the Government is obliged to restore the basic and essential services which it terminated on 31 January 2002, and also obliged to continue to provide these services to the residents.

The residents further state that those who have been effectively forced to move from the CKGR due to the termination of services, should be returned to their ancestral land in the Reserve, as they have unlawfully been dispossessed of their land.

Prior to and since the removals of 1997, the Government has always maintained that it will not ‘force’ anyone to leave the game reserve. The termination of services by the Government effectively forces people out of the reserve, as they will have no access to basic resources. The residents are determined to remain on their ancestral land.

The Negotiating Team, comprises representatives of the residents of the CKGR, First People of the Kalahari (FPK), the Working Group for Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA), Kuru Development Trust, DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights and the Botswana Council of Churches (BCC). It was established in 1997 to negotiate territorial land rights of the residents of the CKGR.

The Negotiating Team believes that the decision of the Government to terminate essential services to the game reserve is wrongful and unlawful. We believe that it is a deliberate attempt by the Government to force the residents out of the reserve. We maintain that the relocation of the residents from the CKGR is unnecessary and that it is in breach of the constitutional and human rights of the residents.

The Negotiating Team continues to call upon the Government to allow the process of negotiations to continue. The Negotiating Team urges the Government of Botswana to review its decision in order to ensure the continuation of participatory processes.

Released by DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights on behalf of the Negotiating Team

20 February 2002
Gaborone