Kalahari Bushmen who were evicted from their land by the government of Botswana’s former President Festus Mogae today condemned African billionaire Mo Ibrahim and his Foundation for giving Mogae their ‘Achievement In Africa Leadership Award’.
De Beers says it has stopped operations on the land of the Kalahari Bushmen in Botswana because those it consulted did not agree with its plan to explore for diamonds near a Bushman community.
Survival International is relaunching its campaign against De Beers after the discovery that the company has returned to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana.
Fears are growing for Bushmen in Botswana, as a giant bush fire that has been streaking across the Kalahari for over a week shows no sign of dying out.
Botswana’s government is this week promoting the Central Kalahari Game Reserve as a top tourist destination, but it has banned the reserve’s Bushmen from accessing their own water.
A Botswana government spokesperson has appealed to members of the public not to donate to Survival, because of its support for the Bushmen who were evicted from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve [CKGR].
The Botswana government has awarded the ‘Safari & Adventure Company’ a tender to build a tourist lodge near the Bushman community of Molapo in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
Tourist lodges requiring huge amounts of water are to be built on the land of the Kalahari Bushmen – but the Bushmen are not allowed to pump water from their single borehole.