Indigenous Peoples/The Basarwa (San)
DITSHWANELO has received further recognition for its ability to provide objective and efficacious mediation services. This position of trust was reaffirmed through a mandate to represent several NGOs at inter-ministerial committee meetings concerned with the relocation of the Basarwa people from the Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve (CKGR) in the Western Region in 1997 and 1998.
Land rights have become an increasingly important issue for the Basarwa (San) and the Centre's experiences have shown that Basarwa communities nation wide share similar human rights concerns such as unemployment, torture, poverty and dispossession. Directly linked to this position was DITSHWANELO'S investigation into the forced removal of a Basarwa community of approximately 400 people in Ngamiland, in northwestern Botswana in 1998. DITSHWANELO is a non-voting member in the negotiation team (NT) that is made up of San who are claiming their right to live in the Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve (CKGR).
Although there are approximately 50.000 Basarwa/San in Botswana, isolation from each other, has further deprived the communities from effective lobbying for their rights.
DITSHWANELO has successfully resolved conflicts between arable and commercial farmers without having to fight legal battles in courts but through encouraging dialogue with all parties involved. In these successful cases unfairly relocated Basarwa have regained their rights to their arable fields and have been relocated to their place of origin while the cattle farmer with whom they had the conflicts also retained his grazing rights in the neighbourhood.
The DITSHWANELO Field Office in Kasane will further expand its activities and values the mediation approach as one of the invaluable tools in its endeavour to promote and defend the rights of the Basarwa and will employ it more often in the coming years.
Related Pages
Minority Rights
Alternative Reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
15 February 2006 |
Press Release Following a Workshop on Rights of Minority Groups |
25 November 2005 |
Press Release on the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), November 2005 |
International Publicity on the Basarwa |
22 September 2005 |
Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) |
Repeated Call for a Return to Negotiations |
12 August 2005 |
Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) |
Support for the Return to Negotiations |
18 April 2005 |
Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, 2004 |
Bill Fails to Ensure Equal Recognition and Treatment for all Ethnic Groups |
11 July 2004 |
Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) |
CKGR Case to Begin on Monday, 12 July 2004 |
5 July 2004 |
Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) |
CKGR Court Case - In Loco Inspection 4-7 July 2004 |
29 June 2004 |
Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) |
Residents of the CKGR to Testify in Court |
4 June 2004 |
Press Release on the 35th Ordinary Session of the African Commission Human and Peoples' Rights |
31 March 2004 |
DITSHWANELO’S Human Rights Film Festival 2004 |
16 – 23 April 2004, as Part of Maitisong Festival |
21 November 2003 |
Press Release on the 34th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights |
6 October 2003 |
Proposed Constitutional Amendment |
Constitutional Amendment for Tribal Neutrality |
23 May 2003 |
Remote Area Development Programme |
Provision of Subsidies |
23 January 2003 |
Press Release IX of the CKGR Negotiating Team |
Judgement By Consent |
7 November 2002 |
Survival International 3 |
Campaign Against Government of Botswana |
2 September 2002 |
Central Kalahari Game Reserve/Basarwa VI |
UN CERD Recommendations to Botswana |
19 July 2002 |
Central Kalahari Game Reserve/Basarwa V |
July Update of the Case |
26 June 2002 |
Central Kalahari Game Reserve/Basarwa IV |
Update on the Case and the Provision of Food and Water |
17 May 2002 |
Press Release II on the 31st Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights |
1 May 2002 |
31st Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights |
24 April 2002 |
Central Kalahari Game Reserve/Basarwa III |
Update on the Situation of the Residents of the CKGR |
20 February 2002 |
Central Kalahari Game Reserve/Basarwa II |
Residents of the CKGR Take Government to Court |
31 January 2002 |
Central Kalahari Game Reserve/Basarwa I |
Cessation of Essential Services To the Residents In the CKGR |
9 August 2001 |
Survival International 2 |
London Vigil to Move to Durban Racism Conference |
6 August 2001 |
World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) |
Recent Threats by the United States Boycott Conference |
18 July 2001 |
Survival International 1 |
London Vigil to Stop the Torture of 'Kalahari Bushmen' |
25 March 1998 |
CKGR Negotiating Team |
