On January 27, 2011, Botswana’s Court of Appeal reversed a ruling that denied the Kalahari Bushmen access to water on their ancestral lands. The Bushmen appealed a 2010 High Court judgment that prevented them from accessing a borehole. The new ruling not only gave the Bushmen rights to use the borehole, but also gave them the right to drill new ones and ordered the government to pay the Bushmen’s court costs.   

On July 21, the Botswana High Court ruled against the San Bushmen, barring them from re-opening a vital waterhole in the Kalahari desert, which is key to their way of life and survival.