Is There a Right to Water for the Baswara People in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR)? The Impact of the 2011 Judgement and the Implications of Botswana Government's Water 'Policy' in the CKGR

Abstract

This short article details the suffering, marginalisation and discrimination of the Baswara people in Botswana. It however focusses on one of the major problems faced by this minority group since the late 1980s. The major problem of the Baswara has been that of access to water. This paper, which is a result of field research, trace the struggle of Baswara to access water and reveal the actual impact of their much publicised 2011 court 'victory' wherein the court held that they have right to water. The author argues that the 2011 judgement is only instrumental in as much as it states that the right to water is fundamental to the Baswara. Nevertheless, as was confirmed by the research findings, the judgement is unenforceable for the poor Baswara. Now with the international community’s probing eyes convinced that the water crisis in CKGR is solved, the Baswara are condemned to thirst and most will be left with no choice but to trail out of the Kalahari. If that happens, many of their fundamental rights are at stake.

Keywords: minority rights, socio-economic rights, Baswara, Kalahari, right to water