SI director Stephen Corry alleges that not a single special game licence for subsistence hunting in the reserve has been granted for over a decade. "The Basarwa's handful of goats and donkeys are frequently stopped from entering the reserve along with Basarwa themselves - some are given only one month's 'permit', with threats of arrest if they 'overstay'," he said.
He said it is now over 30 years since the SI first supported Basarwa objections to being booted out of their homeland in the CKGR. "In spite of all that has happened since, including two court cases which the government lost (one of them the longest in Botswana's history), President [Ian] Khama is now making it clear he remains determined to see it through. What's going on? It's worth noting that foreign tourists can spend three times longer in Botswana, with no visa or permit, than the original inhabitants of the country can spend in their homeland - even with a permit, which by law they don't need! All this amounts to much more than just harassment," he said.
