Volume 52 Issue 10 - October 2014 : Feature

In the heart of rural Botswana, lies a community whose traditional name, Kg`oesakene, simply means “looking for life”. In all fairness, these people have indeed found a new lease of life.

“Tota fa go katwe itlhophele gore a ke re go busetse ko Metsiamanong kana ko Xade nna nka itlhophela go sala kwano. Golo kwa re kile ra bo re go tlhwaafalela jaanong kana tota tsamaiso e setswe morago ebile re setse re tlwaetse thata ka fa re tshelang ka teng mono jaanong,” narrates Xlae Kilo, a lean and hardworking man who appears to be in his late 50s.

The relocation of his family in 1997 to this Tswana styled traditional village was a culmination of a new hope in life and the assimilation to a society which enjoyed the privileges of being Botswana citizens. During that year government encouraged Kilo`s parents and other Basarwa to relocate from the Central Game Reserve (CKGR) to New Xade, about 100kilometres from Ghanzi, the district capital. 

Xilo was born and bred inside the game reserve. He grew up under very harsh conditions as his parents were subjected to the traditional Sesarwa lifestyle of hunter and gatherer. Deep in the barren land where landscape stretches brown and dusty in every direction was to become his daily life until government intervened when Kilo was only a 20 year old young man.

“Golo moo e ne e se botshelo re beile fela mo go Ramasedi. Jaaka e le tlwaelo mo morafeng o wa rona, rene re tsamaya lefelo go ya lefelong go sena sepe se se motlhofo go le thata tota mo batsading ba rona, re ne re goga ka bokete kana tota botshelo jwa motho ke thothi,” he explains with a sad face as he harks his mind back. 

Quizzed on why a dozen of his relatives decided to go back to their roots inside the game reserve, Kilo is quick to admit that “keletso ya motho o mongwe gore o e tlhalose tota go batla o kopane le ene mme fela go ya ka tebo yame ke belaela fa ba ne ba ketefalelwa ke botshelo jo ba neng ba sa bo tlwaela” (to explain someone`s motives you need to hear their side of the story but in my view I think they were motived by hardships of a life they were not used to).

The Basarwa who lived in these areas were sedentary and full time hunters and gatherers. The proximity of the unfenced Khutse Game Reserve allowed them access to animals that strayed out of the protected area. A wide variety of wild plants were collected ranging from water melons to tubers. Basically, the relocation exercise became more traumatic to those who were used to this kind of lifestyle and those who felt their ancestral land was being plucked from them.

According to those who gave wild guesses on what could have triggered their relatives to return to the CKGR, the relocation programme could have turned out a bit aggressive to their lifestyles besides assimilation to the Batswana agro-pastoralist way of life.

One of the notable residents of this community is Kgosi Lobatse Beslag, who has been regarded as a strong advocate for sustainable income generation projects in rural settlements. Beslag has participated in numerous international tours to defend Botswana government`s relocation policy.

He explains that the morafe is made up of the Basarwa of Qlanakhwe, and Quikhwe origin while the third ethnic group is Babolongwa of Kgalagadi origins. The tribe was led from Xade by Beslag`s uncle, Tuelo Sekanabue, to the ‘Promised Land`. Just after 12 months of their arrival, Beslag was crowned headman of records, succeeding his uncle and quickly thrown to the deeper end to lead his morafe. 

“Gone jaana re na le dikgosana tse ke berekang le tsone re thusana di le tlhano. Kgosana ya kgotlana ya Molapo o ne a tsaya tshwetso ya gore ene o boela ka kwa ka gore o pateleditswe go huduga, ga re bua jaana kgotla eo ga ena kgosana,” reveals Beslag meaning that currently he works with five tribal leaders and Molapo ward does not have a leader since he decided to retraced his steps back to CKGR claiming he was forced to relocate from the reserve.

The pattern of the kgotla system in New Xade depends on who came first here. There is the Qlanakhwe, Quikhwe, Bolongwe dikgotlana while Molapo, Metsiamanong and Mothomelo arrived at a later stage. Now Kgosi Beslag is leading a united community so rooted in the CKGR that they have since started a new life all together. 

“Re morafe o o kopaneng jaanong ga gona gore bale ke ba letso lefe. Go ne go le thata ko tshimologong jaanong gone jaana dilo di boetse meriting. Lebaka le legolo la khuduga kana tota e ne e le gore re tle go bona ditlamelo segautshwane. Nngwe ya mabaka a rona ba re neng ra itshupa gore ke nnete re batla go tswa ka kwa ke gore molao o o tsamaisang game reserve le botshelo jwa rona di ne di sa tsamaelane gotlhelele,” he reckons, meaning that they are now a united tribe and life is back to normal because the whole aim of relocating was get social amenties which could not be provided in the game reserve. Today the population of New Xade is about 1 500, a considerable growth according to Kgosi Beslag.

The Relocation of the Basarwa

In 1997, over 1 700 Basarwa were relocated from the CKGR by the government of Botswana as part of the largest resettlement programme ever undertaken in the country. A majority of these people relocated to New Xade and some to Kaudwane outside the southern border of the CKGR.

A further resettlement of the Central Kalahari residents took place in 2002 when settlements like Molapo and other remaining settlements were relocated. Government justified the relocation in order to conserve natural resources and to promote community development among the Basarwa.

The relocation programme sparked an international controversy fueled by a London based NGO called Survival International (SI). SI`s protests were based on claims that indigenous peoples worldwide had a right to their ancestral lands. 

However, Botswana itself does not accept the concept of indigenous peoples and has not ratified international treaties that identify the rights of indigenous and tribal people. The landmark court case was decided in December 2006 in favour of Basarwa applicants. 

A study by Japanese anthropologist, Junko Maruyama, to determine the impact of the resettlement on the livelihood and social relationship of the relocates demonstrated how the residents have coped with the new situation and environment.

At the time of the study in 2001, the population was estimated to be 1 100, the lifestyle and residential pattern changed drastically. New Xade, according to the study, has numerous facilities more typical of a large village in Botswana than a settlement. ENDS

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