22 June 2009
editorial
The conflict between the Bakgatla and the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism over the prohibition of hunting highlights the uneasy relationship between tradition and custom on the one hand, and the national interest as it is perceived by the government on the other.
The Bakgatla, as one of the lead stories in the newspaper reports, want to hunt 100 animals in order to clothe the graduates of bogwera who should depart for the mountain next week.
The ministry, it appears, refuses to yield to their request for a dispensation to kill the animals in order top fulfill a basic part of the ritual of Bogwera.
The argument is made that the hunting season is closed, and that any further killing of the animals would place a threat on the continued existence of the species of animals that the Bakgatla are likely to kill.
The difficult question is: What is important to the government, 100 animals, or the culture of the Bakgatla?
Batswana should never have to make the choice between conservation of wildlife and preservation of culture. The Batswana of yesteryear understood, as common sense dictates, that the two must be considered together.
The greed of poachers and hunters who kill for the pot and for commerce, cannot be allowed to take precedence over killing to celebrate the culture of a people, who only want consummation of a traditional ritual, bogwera.
The ministry, which did not take bogwera into consideration when it did its arithmetic, is duty bound to accede to the request of the Bakgatla to kill the animals that are required for a proper conclusion to the ceremonies of bogwera.
Perhaps, the ministry should negotiate with the Bakgatla, that the prohibition on hunting in the district should be extended by three months or any agreed period in order to assist replenishment of the animal resource.
It might also be agreed that the Bakgatla should be asked to kill only so many of the male species as against the females, in order to assist subsequent replenishment of the animals.
There is not a segment of Botswana family life that is not falling apart and the Batswana need everything - especially those things that are deeply rooted in their culture - to restore the efficacy of family life, as the Batswana understand it.
Let us choose culture over 100 animals for the benefit of both, in the future.
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