Botwana: Judgement on Kalahari Bushmen's access to water

Survival International reports an important victory for the Kalahari bushmen in Botswana in their court case involving the right to water. 

In a momentous decision, Botswana’s Court of Appeal today quashed a ruling that denied the Kalahari Bushmen access to water on their ancestral lands.

With support from Survival, the Bushmen appealed a 2010 High Court judgment that prevented them from accessing a well which they rely on for water. The panel of five Appeal Court judges has found that:

·       the Bushmen have the right to use their old borehole, which the government had banned them from using

·       the Bushmen have the right to sink new boreholes

·       the government’s conduct towards the Bushmen amounted to ‘degrading treatment’.

·       the government must pay the Bushmen’s costs in bringing the appeal.

The full text of the final appellate judgement can be found at: http://assets.survivalinternational.org/documents/545/bushmen-water-appeal-judgement-jan-2011.pdf