Diversity and Multiculturalism Accommodation

Abstract

This article examines and problematises the “rights” of Indigenous communities under multiculturalism debates with reference to the San community popularly known as “Basarwa” or “Bushmen” in Botswana, paying particular attention to the tension between perceived government effort to accommodate this community and the concomitant violence inflicted upon its members. The article refers to the Sesana and Others v Attorney-General (2006) case as a springboard to unravel the two-thronged way in which the law becomes an instrument of violence on the one hand, and a means to correct social injustices on the other. This case deals with the forceful removal of the Basarwa from their ancestral land and the government’s abrupt termination of essential services such as drinking water and primary healthcare. The article problematises the rights of the Basarwa under multiculturalism debates and considers questions such as: If the Basarwa community are contenders under modern laws, which are alien to them in terms of the asymmetrical way in which these laws were imposed over their customary laws, what rights do they have that enable us to speak about them as citizens? In what way does the modern state accommodate them and their unique cultural and legal understanding? What resources do they have at their disposal to speak the language of the law? Is the argument that multiculturalism accommodation gives minority groups the choice of maintaining their unique cultural and legal understanding of the world sustainable? Ultimately, I proffer the application of democratic experimentalism as an effective and amicable means of solving disputes between the state and minoritised and marginalised communities such as the Basarwa.