The BBC reports today that, “San bushmen in Botswana have lost a court case to allow them to re-open a vital waterhole in the centre of the Kalahari desert. …The ruling means the San bushmen in the reserve will have to depend on erratic rains and melons for water.”
Why?
“Diamonds were found in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, traditional home to the bushmen, in the 1980s – and the government asked them to leave (some later returned). …The borehole in question was used by De Beers, the world’s largest diamond producer, when it was prospecting for minerals in 1985.”
“The San bushmen community of Mothomelo had filed an application to be granted permission to equip and use the borehole. A judge ruled that the bushmen were not entitled to do this, or to drill a new one.”
“Human rights activists have urged the authorities to find a lasting solution to the bushmen’s rights without resorting to lengthy litigation, our reporter says.”
The full BBC report is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-10720244.
