TOCADI Trust is based in Shakawe and has three other field offices in remote areas. Through the Board of Trustees, the Trust is owned by the San people. TOCADI believes in affirmative action toward marginalized communities; its mission statement reads, "We want to empower marginalized communities so that they are able to make their own sustainable plans and implement them."
Control over water has always had a big influence on the power relations in rural communities. In northwest Ngamiland, the ownership of wells usually runs along ethnic lines. Though the San were the area’s earliest inhabitants and have an extensive knowledge of its natural resources, they no longer control access to its water resources.
Because they herd cattle, most of the tribes arriving later needed better water resources than the sip wells and seasonal sources the San used. Drawing on the San’s knowledge and labor, these tribes developed permanent water holes and wells. With the subsequent development of legal land ownership, the owners of the cattle time and again applied for--and were granted--exclusive ownership of these wells.
A group of Bugakhwe San in Shaikarawe community, for example, has a long history of occupying its territory. A local hunter from another (more powerful) ethnic group acquired a license to hunt an elephant and came to Shaikarawe community for assistance. The hunt was successful and he returned the next year to hunt again. Eventually, he dug a well next to the community with the assistance of the Bugakhwe. Within another year he was awarded the exclusive use of that well and got a certificate from the Land Board. He then instigated a legal battle to block the community’s access to the well, and the community was forcefully resettled. Only after two years of support from human rights lawyers and TOCADI was the community allowed to return to its land.
Because of examples like this one, TOCADI sees land security as a vital part of community empowerment. But it can be a long and tedious process to claim land from the government on the grounds of historical land use patterns. We at TOCADI are trying to assist the communities in securing land and water resources, but we aim to do so in a non-confrontational way wherever possible. When the San in Dobe develop a waterhole, we will try to assist the Herero at a neighboring cattle post to upgrade their water source as well. This type of planning helps the San avoid a situation where they have to defend their wells against the jealousy of other groups.
If San organize their own cattle syndicates they can secure land rights. The Land Board makes an effort to ensure that the land applied for by a cattle syndicate is the traditional territory of that specific group. Extensive land mapping has now been completed in the Dobe area (known as NG 3) and in other NG areas in Ngamiland. The development of boreholes in the Dobe area is a significant step in the process of securing land and water resources for the San and other marginalized groups.
Dobe Borehole Drilling
Boreholes were drilled for syndicates managing different nqores (sections of traditional land) beginning in February 2001. The decision on where to drill was adopted from the land mapping exercise conducted by an independent consultant, Arthur Albertson, which was subsequently followed by a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) undertaken by a field team under my leadership. Community members lamented their lack of user rights to the land and were aware of the potential danger posed by their lack of legal claim to any piece of land.
Under current legislation, all communities inside NG 3 could come together and form a representative and legal entity--a community trust, for example--to reap the benefits of commercial tourism operations. The Board of this trust would have to be inclusive of all the area’s inhabitants, not just San. After the formation of syndicates and the development of wells, the San are in a much stronger position vis-à-vis the makeup of the trust.
A syndicate was formed for each of the four wells planned in Dobe, as well as for those in Qoshe. The different San families contributed representatives for the groups that were to manage the different syndicates. Several meetings were held to explain and practice management of the syndicates.
TOCADI facilitated six meetings with each of the syndicates before the Land Board approved their applications for land. Three meetings were also held prior to approval by the land overseer, in this case an elderly Herero man who verified that no other legal claims to the areas existed. Only after several meetings was he willing to sign a document. Two more meetings were held with each of the four syndicates before the Sub Land Board approved the applications. The discussion at the first three meetings centered around membership and committee composition.
Each nqore traditionally had an owner through inheritance. The owners now had to work together with family members to form a committee (syndicate) large enough to apply to the Land Board. They agreed that nqore owners would chair the committees with the help of advisors and a secretary. Constitutions were developed after the Sub Land Board approved the application. A workshop on committee members’ roles and responsibilities followed. This session included topics like duties of office bearers, conflict management, dealing with problem individuals, and chairing meetings.
The Dobe community received four certificates--to Xubi, Xarinxago, Cheracheraha, and Gcwinqaa--from Tawana Land Board. The Land Board did not release a fifth certificate because two families were in dispute over the ownership of the land concerned. (The feud began even before TOCADI started working in Dobe.)
In early February 2001, O.D. Drilling was engaged to drill four boreholes at Dobe. Two of them--Xubi and Gcwinqaa--struck good water at 40 meters. The other holes--Xarinxago and Cheracheraha--were dry (drilling for these boreholes reached 60 and 100 meters, respectively). But when Cheracheraha was visited two days later, it contained enough water to sustain 10 people for two weeks. An evaluation of the project was carried out in Dobe with the community. Though emotions ran high at the meeting because syndicates with dry holes accused TOCADI of bias toward syndicates that were successful in getting water, the community wanted to drill deeper in the dry holes to finish the project.
The Xubi and Gcwinqaa syndicates were pleased when TERRASOL equipped the boreholes. The Namibian-designed pumps use a DC motor operated by solar panels to run a mechanical system similar to a windmill pump. Serviced only annually and requiring no monthly fuel budgets, the pumps are cheap to maintain. Management plans are yet to be developed. The plans will look at each area’s economic potential in attracting tourists. Reticulation of water can be carried out with an in-kind contribution from the community, so that it retains a sense of ownership.
The boreholes at Xubi and Gcwinqaa have become a talking point among the neighboring Herero, who use labor-intensive methods of watering livestock. Before the end of year, cattle not belonging to syndicate members will probably come into the area. A borehole controlled by Herero will have to be drilled away from other water holes. The project will cost around P100,000 ($16,500 US).
TOCADI’s development work has been called divisive. To empower some groups within a community raises fear among others. Within NG 3, the Herero community accused Kuru/TOCADI of bias because they felt excluded and feared that the Dobe San community will be more powerful as a result of easy access to infrastructure and advice. This fear clearly must be addressed.
In 2002, we will facilitate the establishment of a representative and legal entity over NG 3. We will thus be working, together with ACORD (another non-governmental organization), with all communities in the area to establish an overall management plan for the region. Some of the boreholes may be considered for wildlife watering so that campsites for tourists can be established and specific syndicates can benefit from small tourism ventures.
We would like to thank the Kalahari People’s Fund and their supporters for financing the boreholes. The project has had a positive impact on two communities in the Dobe area, not only by giving them fresh drinking water, but also by helping them get legal control over ancestral lands, a breakthrough in Botswana.
This article is abridged from TOCADI’s annual report, entitled, Water Development Project. The report details activities supported by the Kalahari People’s Fund for the period ending in October 2001.
