What the Bushmen say

‘… we think it’s diamonds. The government says there’s wildlife here, but does it mean the wildlife was on its own without people here? So we think it’s not because of wildlife but because of diamonds because the government knows the people were there with the animals long ago. We would agree for De Beers to mine as long as we were on our land. Now we have been evicted, we don’t agree with De Beers mining on our land.’
Gakekgolele
‘I think it’s true that the Bushmen have been pushed out of CKGR because of the diamonds in CKGR, and that is not a good thing - it’s oppressing us. It’s denying us our rights… We met with De Beers people and said we agree to the mining if you give us jobs and money and better living, and buy us new vehicles, we agree. I had a meeting with De Beers. They told us the people who will build the staff houses and fence the area off will be Bushmen. They told us there would be a road from Gope to Orapa and the people who will work on this and the poles for electricity installation would be Bushmen. Women too will work for people in the mine.’
Roy (Alternative Nobel Prize winner)
‘Even the government officials some of them tell us that they move us only because of the diamonds. They say that the people shouldn’t sit next to the diamonds… The District Commissioners and council secretaries [said this].’
Mongwegi
‘I would like to say on behalf of all Bushmens of the CKGR that this is an issue for us who have been pushed from the CKGR from our ancestral land because of diamonds. Diamonds are the main issue of the CKGR Bushmen. When the Botswana Government was becoming independent and the Constitution was written and the Minerals Act was signed, the Bushmen were not there. They never signed any petition or any document saying that the minerals found in Botswana belong to the country. Only the main eight tribes of Botswana did so. That is what the Botswana government is afraid of. It wanted to push us from the CKGR because there were diamonds and they were afraid that we might claim mineral rights.’
Jumanda
‘We were asked to move out from this area because they have got diamonds here… The District Commissioner asked me to move away from this area, from this diamond area, because this area does not belong to the Bushmen.’
Nare
‘The government wants to come here and use the diamonds alone. We think it’s because of diamonds. They think the diamonds belong to them, the government, so that’s why we are being chased away. We don’t want the diamonds to be mined here - that’s why we are being chased away.’
Seotimeng
‘In the Gope area a De Beers subsidiary company has a ‘retention licence’ which is meaning they can keep rights to that land even if they are not doing anything on it. This is the only ‘retention licence’ in Botswana and it is due to expire in December 2006. First People is waiting to see what will happen with that licence. Under the law, the De Beers subsidiary company has to either give up the licence or start mining. We think if a drilling company is now going to Gope then people can make their own conclusions about that.’
Bushman organization First People of the Kalahari (FPK)

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