Quotation from article in Mmegi.

"The President further said even as Butale, as Minister focuses internationally, he must understand that the international role is fed from within. “What we do here, what we do to our people, what we do to the indigenous people, those people from the Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve ( CKGR), what we do to others across the country is what will make their life difficult or easy.”

Referring to the issue concerning Pitseng Gaoberekwe, the Mosarwa man who has been in a Ghanzi morgue since December 2021, President Boko said his government is not going to justify the failure to burry a human being at his natural habitat where he has desired to be buried simply because he belongs to a particular ethnic group."

Sunday Standard, Khonani Ontebetse

The government has for the first time conceded that the decision to relocate Basarwa from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) was a policy blunder.

The government acknowledged in its latest white paper on the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution of Botswana that mistakes were made in relocating Basarwa from their ancestral land. The government even fell short of acknowledging its elaborate plan to literally wipe out Basarwa from the Constitution when in 2005, it deliberately ‘deleted’ section 14(3) (c) which supported Basarwa’s constitutional rights.

The 2023 annual reports of SEMK Botswana have not yet been written, something has not yet been written in the journal for some time. The reason is that a Botswanan student is staying with us for a period of three months, between her high school final exams and a choice for a possible further study at a university.

RAMOTSWA: After leading her tribe to final victory at the Court of Appeal (CoA) this week, the Ba Ga-Malete leader, Kgosi Mosadi Seboko says she now fears for her life more than ever.
The CoA ruling put an end to a legal fight over Forest Hill 9-KO, the fiercely disputed land measuring 2,229 hectares (other sources mention 200,229 hectares) that left government and Bamalete at odds.

Now with Bamalete granted court victory, Kgosi Mosadi who was among the respondents for the appeal had asked her tribe to pray for her as she faces enemies from both outside and within. Speaking at the Bamalete main Kgotla in Ramotswa after the victory on Tuesday, Kgosi Mosadi said: "I am now treading carefully because there are some people with bad intentions out there." She added: “I know that I must protect myself because there are those people I should be careful when I am around them." Kgosi Mosadi also said she knows better not to accept food offers from everyone because there are chances that some would poison her.

She also revealed that it is not just witchcraft she may be facing but there are other works in play. She said she is glad that through it all, Balete managed to hold on to the spirit of prayer. She said as much as they prayed, they also do not have to disregard traditional methods of protection because the two go hand in hand. She advised her tribe to do the same and exercise care at all times.

She said they should all celebrate this victory responsibly because not everyone is happy about their court triumph. For his part, Kgosi Mosadi’s uncle Kgosi Tsimane Mokgosi emphasised that not everyone is celebrating their victory. "There are some people who are jealous of Kgosi Mosadi. But their hearts will settle,” he highlighted. Kgosi Mosadi made headlines last year when she claimed that President Mokgweetsi Masisi interfered with the Judiciary and wanted to play the hero in the Balete and government matter.

Kgosi Mosadi at the time set tongues wagging when she made the allegations before the media a few days before the first CoA appearance in the last session. She revealed then that Masisi had promised to give Bamalete their land back should they lose the case at the highest court in the land. She exposed Masisi’s 'meddling' hand in the affairs of the land saying she will never keep quiet or be part of the ‘never mind’ ilk to save her skin. “It is my word against his (President Masisi's) but I am telling the truth. I wouldn’t dare make such statements about the First Citizen knowing very well they are false. I have had sleepless nights since our meeting and I wonder how he sleeps at night?" Kgosi Mosadi declared at the time.

Kgosi Seboko warns the tribe (translation not possible) “Se se sa siamang ke se se jesetswang mo ganong. Gake rotloetse tsedi jelwang mo ganong mo gongwe di a tle di iphetole botlhole, le nna ke tshwanetse ke itlhokomele nako tsotlhe. Le a itse le lona gore hake ile meketeng ba mphuthelela diswaanyana mme go nale ba eleng gore ke tshwanetse ke itlhokomele. Le dijo ke ba ra a kere tsholang pele le je. Metsi a ke lemogile gore le one beng ba one itlhele baa tshaba ba sa batle goa nwa, nna le nna ke simolotse go nna careful ka kgang ya metsi. Rotlhe re a itemogela gore ga e sa tlhole re re go jesitse baloi, re jesiwa le ke bone batho sekgoa ba go tweng re ja nabo.” (I don’t encourage comestibles because they tend to become poison. I must be careful at all times. You all know that during social functions they always package food hampers for me. I am not always suspicious but they are those people I should be careful when they are around. Even with food I tell them to eat first, I have started becoming more careful even with water. We have all observed that it is no longer witchcraft only but there are other sophisticated ways people go about to poison others.)

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Reaction President Masisi, published by Mmegi or Sunday Standard. (The article has been removed from the newspaper that published it.)

If I had meddled with the courtcase, Bamalete would have lost the case.

December 15, 2022

Botswana’s Appeal Court has denied a Bushman family the right to bury their elder, Pitseng Gaoberekwe, on his ancestral land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR).

The ruling has been condemned by his family who said: “The government has denied us the right of access to our ancestral land. Who is it to deny us that right? Who are the courts here in Botswana to deny us this right? Our rights are inherent. They cannot be taken away neither by the courts, the government or anybody else. We were there before the creation of the game reserve... therefore this land cannot be left to vultures spreading around trying to scavenge on our land. Our land is precious, full of natural resources and animals, and we will not give it easily to this oppressive government.”

Survival believes this manifestly unjust and inhumane judgment appears to be politically influenced and to reflect a renewed round of persecution of and discrimination against Bushmen by the government.

Pitseng become ill in 2014. He was persuaded to leave his community in the CKGR to access medical treatment, and be near his children who live in one of the sites to which many of the CKGR Bushmen were evicted in 2002. He died there on 21 December 2021.

Local authorities and the Director of the Department of Wildlife refused to allow his family to transport the body from the morgue to the reserve, leaving the family with no option but to go to court to resolve the issue.

According to Bushman customary law, it is vital to bury the dead near their ancestors. Legal experts say the Director of Wildlife has no powers to override customary law and therefore no power to determine who is buried in the CKGR, or to refuse a permit for the purpose of a burial. It appears the Director exceeded his powers to further government policy aimed at restricting Bushmen access to the reserve.

Born in the CKGR in the 1940s, Pitseng spent virtually his whole life there until he became ill in 2014. He never forfeited his right to live on his ancestral land and refused to leave in the 1997 and 2002 evictions.

On his death bed he made clear to his family that he wished to be buried on the land of his ancestors in the CKGR, in accordance with custom.

He was a hunter, and endured assault, detention and even a year’s imprisonment in 1994 after being arrested by wildlife scouts for hunting. Despite this relentless persecution he refused to stop hunting.

Pitseng was an applicant in the landmark 2002-2006 High Court case, when judges ruled the Bushmen had been illegally and unconstitutionally evicted from their land in the CKGR.

A report published by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this month raises considerable concerns at Botswana’s treatment of the CKGR Bushmen. It stated that: “the restrictive execution of the High Court’s decision and particularly the removal of the children from the Park at the age of 18 would aim for there to be no more inhabitants after the death of the Elders”.

The Committee urged Botswana “to fully implement the High Court’s decision by allowing all ethnic groups originating from this reserve to return and settle there unconditionally. ... and “to provide them with effective access to basic social services and enable them to resume their traditional activities without hindrance".