Bolata In The Kgalagadi

Yet, it is still common to talk about the status of Khoe or Basarwa communities in the Kgalagadi without any acknowledgement of their past subordination by other ethnic groups. 

By the 17th century a pattern was emerging throughout much of the Kgalagadi, in which Khoe, sometimes semi-assimilated as Balala, were forced to work for Bakgalagari masters. This unpleasant truth further undermines the archaic stereotype of them as “wild Bushmen” who should be protected as an isolated hunter-gatherer culture.