Even the huts of one of his daughters were dismantled. Between the two of them, they had six huts. He said that immediately after the incident, the rain came and he had nowhere to sleep. He slept under a tree for many days and his belongings were left in the open. He had to take his animal skins to another villager to save them from the showers. He said that his wife was taken against his will. “They took her by force but I told them not to,” said the elderly witness, who was unable to tell his age to the court.
He said his wife was taken away from him in the presence of the District Commissioner who reportedly told him that the wife was not his, as he had not put a ring on her finger. However, Gaoberekwe told the court that he was customarily married to his wife, according to Gana-Gwi Sesarwa tradition. He said he did not know the whereabouts of his wife. “I don’t know where she is. They know where they have taken my wife,” he said. Nonetheless, he later told the court that his wife now resides in Metsiamanong. He said that after government officers brought down his huts, his life was in danger. Were it not for his dogs, he would have been killed by lions that visited the village shortly afterwards.
Gaoberekwe told the court that he was born in the CKGR and so were his parents and grandparents. His lawyer, John Whitehead asked him if he agreed with Sidney Pilane (appearing for the government) that the CKGR is not an ideal place for human habitation.
He disagreed. “Yes I understand Pilane’s statement but it’s a place that God has given me. I have been living there for a long time and it is a good place to live in,” he said. He denied the government argument that he and other Basarwa are being incited by foreigners to insist on staying in the CKGR.
Meanwhile, yesterday Pilane brought in the parents of Amogelang Segootsane, another witness who testified for Basarwa on Monday.
Pilane handed to court their national identity cards, which showed that both parents were born in Salajwe and not in the CKGR as Segootsane had claimed. Segootsane was brought back to the witness stand to reconcile his earlier evidence with the new facts.
When Pilane asked him if he would reconsider his evidence about his parents’ birth in the face of the facts before court, he asked to talk to his father before committing himself. Pilane told him that he would not get that chance.
But the witness insisted. When Pilane put his foot down, the witness said he relied on oral information from his father. “It means my father was lying to me,” Segootsane said to a stunned court.
It was not clear whether his parents would be state witnesses. When Whitehead asked if he could be allowed to consult with the parents, Pilane said he would have a go at them first. After that, he would determine whether Whitehead could see them.
However, he later said he would not deliver them to Whitehead. The case continues today with Gaoberekwe in the witness stand.
