Sello Motseta
11th February 2022
In a small rural village located in the hot, isolated sands of the Kalahari desert, a small collection of San and their families are struggling to cope with the rigours of modernization in a semi-arid desert after being relocated from the familiar realities of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve(CKGR).
The landscape in Kaudwane is littered with thatched houses and small, compact beautiful brick houses occupied by Government officials working in the area. There are no recreational facilities with the shebeen very popular with residents and few extra curricular activities available for villagers.
As I walk around the village I bump into a deeply intoxicated elderly Mosarwa woman, lying limp on the ground motionless outside her homestead under the watchful eye of her dog. She has to be lifted up and assisted to reach her room where she can rest to overcome a headache induced by too much alcohol. A herd of livestock passes through village followed by herd boy on a donkey.
Other than that there is nothing to suggest that there is much activity amongst the inhabitants. It is very quiet. The only public transport is a combi which leaves in the morning and returns in the evening. This village is very much isolated with Ipelegeng the only significant employer in the village.
Mogwato Phamodi, said “I used to live in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. There was very little water. We depended on rain for water and migrated a lot looking for water sources to drink.”
He said, “A borehole was drilled in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve(CKGR) but the water was very salty. Efforts to improve quality of water were stymied by Government efforts compelling us to relocate. Government said borehole in the CKGR was for Lions and wild animals. We were migrated to resettlement camp outside reserve in Kaudwane where I now reside.”
Phamodi maintains some Basarwa are able to create sustainable livelihoods rearing livestock. “They sell meat to local grocery store for sustenance. We used to hunt wild animals and cannot do that anymore. You need permits to hunt for wild animals,” said Phamodi.
Whilst we walk around the village he stops me and points out a trail of a snake. I am quite taken aback and enquire whether these skills are passed on to their children.
“The young are taught to see the trail of a snake and educated about its dangers. If we see it in the open we leave them we only kill them if we find them in the homestead,” he volunteers.
The area has no electricity and water connected to houses like in urban areas and bigger villages.
A borehole was drilled for water and Government is slowly helping residents build small 2 roomed brick houses for shelter. As with most things driven by Government in Botswana implementation is slow and sporadic. There is a nursery school and a primary school with academic results a cause of concern.
According to Statistics Botswana in its projections for 2020 Kaudwane has a minuscule population of 595 males representing 46.3% with 689 Females which is 53.7% of a small population of 1,284 people.
Amogelang Segootsane, one of the few Basarwa who in October 2005 was bold enough to challenge the government decision to forcibly relocate them from the CKGR says Basarwa are not protected by law. He still lives inside the CKGR but maintains a homestead in Kaudwane where his daughter and son reside. He often visits but refuses to relocate maintaining he is fighting to protect his birthright.
“They want us to establish a Trust but it only protects Government. They want us to remove dogs and donkeys and livestock. If we generate money we are only allowed to build brick houses outside CKGR,” said Segootsane. He said Government provides them with water through Jojo’s.
“We are not allowed to hunt inside the CKGR. We need permits. They however refuse to give them to us,” said Segootsane. Segootsane reveals Government takes them in trucks to receive destitute allowances and that they are not scared of the wild animals that populate the reserve.
“We are scared only of elephants,” he reveals. He said, “Hunting is our culture and if we do not continue to do so we will lose our culture. Segoostane believes that they could be successfully integrated into the commodity driven economy favoured by Government if they practiced their culture.
“We could sell items for money like dancing in cultural attire for tourists, acting as tour guides, hunting, cooking traditional cuisine and selling medicines using centuries old practices to cure ailments like birth pains whose knowledge is still useful for living in a modern industrialized world,” said Segootsane.
A Village Development Committee(VDC) runs villages administrative issues from a very modest office in the village. With no air conditioning staff prefer to sit under a tree in the shade except when receiving clients whereupon you are ushered into a sparsely furnished office for assistance.
Ontiretse Gaothetswe, Secretary for the Village Development Committee, said “about 160 people are employed through Ipelegeng at an average wage of P567.00 per month. The foreman of the project is paid P651.00 and the programme offers short term employment for village residents.”
Jobs are restricted to cleaners, Police, Teachers and Catering for school children. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks employs 20 people in menial jobs cleaning in offices and yards.
Pateletsa Monwelo, Chairperson of the Community Conservation Club, said “We have received training to learn to plant vegetables for consumption. We have also been given a plot to plant vegetables and fruits. But hunting and gathering has been a way of life for us and adjusting is difficult.”
There is very high failure rate for students with Basarwa children taught in English and Setswana. It is not their mother tongue. Translators who are providing assistance on a voluntary basis are struggling to cope results showing no signs of improving says Monwelo.
A local grocer is run by a c-operative of 104 members from the local community and employs 9 people. It owns a land cruiser and helps in the community with emergencies requiring transport.
Mpopi Rantamelang, Kaudwane multipurpose Co-operative Manager, said “We helped an indigent mother of two get food for sustenance and also bought clothes for her children.”
With no skip hires for refuse collection there is a lot of waste material lying around in village. It is a very basic existence for a people whose culture and way of life continues to interest audiences around the world. With their forceful integration into a lifestyle they do not readily comprehend centuries old cultural practices run the risk of being lost for posterity in post-colonial Africa.
It is unfortunate that a sustainable compromise is not being developed for the mutual benefit of all.
