This is the message government spokesperson Jeff Ramsay gave last night when quizzed about the refusal by government to grant Bennet a visa on Wednesday. "We are a sovereign country and we can do what we want but he will not get his visa this week," he said.Ramsay said that Bennett demanded a visa at short notice. He also said that a decision surrounding Bennett being granted a visa was to be finalised today and he could not confirm whether he would get it or not.
"Bennett approached the High Commissioner in London and demanded to be given a visa within 48 hours. Why should he work in our country and make such demands?" Ramsay asked.Ramsay said that Bennett has to undergo processes to attain his visa and also castigated him for issuing statements through Survival International and Africa.com. When questioned about whether the government was denying Basarwa their legal right and freedom by barring their lawyer from entering the country with only two days left for trial, Ramsay said there were other legal channels they could follow under such circumstances. "I am not going to confirm whether the government is okay with him representing Basarwa but there are channels to be followed when one wants to work in Botswana. "He was allowed in the first place and now he is going around issuing statements on Survival International and Africa.com about the visa matter," Ramsay said. Basarwa are returning to court for the third time on July 29, 2013, over the government's refusal to allow all Basarwa evicted in 2002 free access to their ancestral land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR).
