President of Botswana overturns the previous government's refusal to bury Bushmen elder Pitseng Gaoberekwe in his ancestral lands.

President Boko embraces Bushman spokesman Roy Sesana in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, during the burial of Bushman man Pitseng Gaoberekwe © Mpho Dintwa/Survival

Dear Jack,

Among countless awful things happening in the world, it’s important to remember that change is possible, and you can help make it happen. I wanted to share an example:

The Gana and Gwi Bushmen of Botswana have been well used to a life of persecution. For many years the government pressured them to leave their ancestral lands – inside what is now the Central Kalahari Game Reserve – and move to bleak relocation camps the Bushmen call “places of death.”

In the late ‘90s and early 2000s the authorities, exasperated by the Bushmen’s refusal to leave their beloved homeland, physically evicted them.

Survival’s global campaign for the Bushmen’s right to live in peace on their own land was the biggest in our history - thousands of you sent letters, attended vigils and made your voices heard. It culminated in 2006 in a historic court victory, funded principally by you, our supporters: Botswana’s High Court ruled that the Bushmen’s eviction was unlawful, asserting their right to live and hunt there as they always had done.

Kalahari Bushmen celebrating in Metsiamenong in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve after their historic court victory against the Botswana government, December 2006 © Survival International

Though a huge step forward, this was not the end of it. Many Bushmen returned, but the authorities made life as hard as possible for them.

This unforgiving vindictiveness was illustrated in the saga of Pitseng Gaoberekwe, an elderly Bushman man. He left the reserve to seek medical care, and died in New Xade resettlement camp outside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in 2021.

The government refused to allow his relatives to bury his body in the reserve, and his family lost a court battle over it. His body lay then in a mortuary until just last week, while his family remained determined to respect his dying wish to be buried back on his land.

Why? It’s central to the Gana and Gwi peoples’ beliefs that they must live near their ancestors. It’s one reason they resisted eviction: countless generations are buried in the reserve. By insisting that Pitseng be buried outside the reserve, the government hoped to break the link between the Bushmen and their land.

Then something extraordinary happened. The ruling party – in power since Botswana became independent in 1966 – lost an election in October. A new coalition came in, led by Duma Boko. He is a human rights lawyer, one of the team that represented the Bushmen in their historic 2006 victory.

President Boko visits a Bushman hut in Metsiamenong community, during the funeral of Pitseng Gaoberekwe © Mpho Dintwa/Survival

One of President Boko’s first acts in office (alongside revoking entry bans to Botswana for several Survival staff and ex-staff) was to allow Pitseng’s burial in the reserve – overturning the previous government’s refusal. Then, a few days ago, on UN Human Rights Day, President Boko himself accompanied Pitseng’s body, his family, members of the cabinet, and a fleet of journalists, back to the reserve.

There, Pitseng was finally buried, back on the land his people have occupied for millennia.

In a speech to mark the event, President Boko said: “We stand united with the children of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, embracing the hope of a future rooted in dignity and equality. True freedom begins with the recognition of human rights for all.”

Survival’s campaign and your unwavering support have helped bring the Bushmen to the point of this stunning reversal of fortunes. As a Bushman activist told us some time ago, “There is nothing better than what has been done by Survival and its supporters.”

Thank you for your support – and we hope you will stand with us as we work for many more such moments in the coming year.

Best wishes,

Caroline Pearce
Director

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