U.N. Official calls for Botswana Talks over Bushmen Relocation

While brushing off Survival International’s battle of words with De Beers, a U.N. official called for the Kalahari San people and the Botswana government to enter talks over Kalahari relocation complaints.

“I feel personally that it is important to push negotiations in the interests of the San people and of all the people of Botswana,” Rodolfo Stavenhagen, a U.N. official investigating indigenous peoples issues, told reporters in South Africa.

According to Survival International, an NGO, Bushmen living in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) have been relocated to make room for diamond mining on their ancestral land.

This led the NGO to launch a campaign focused on diamond miner De Beers, attacking it for its alleged role. The battle included picketing a store opening in New York and a diamond exhibit in a major London museum and a strong media attack.

The miner, which holds exclusive rights to mining diamonds in the country but is not mining in the CKGR, is fighting back against the allegations.

The Botswana government says those who left the reserve did so voluntarily, and all community movement was based on access to water supply and health services.

“In a way it has become a media event and that is very unfortunate,” Stagenhagen said about Survival International’s actions. “The interests of the San people are not best served by a public debate between an NGO based in London and an international mining company,” he added, in what is viewed as a swipe at them. 

De Beers’ mines account for nearly 80 percent of Botswana’s exports, a third of gross domestic product and nearly half of government income.

Court hearings on the evictions began last year and will be renewed today (Wednesday) after some legal delays.