The Social Development Policy Mismanagement of the Khoisan Ethnic Affairs

Abstract

This paper uses the post-colonial theoretical perspective to analyze the social situation of the Khoisan
or San ethnic groups in Botswana. Due to their social history of hunter-gathers, these minority
communities in Botswana have been dominated and marginalized through the actions of current
social policies which excluded them from specific social and cultural developments that should
sustain their existing as distinct ethnic communities. They do not have rights to their language and
culture, and do not have any development policy consideration for a reservation of land where they
could exercise and enjoy their rights as people that bear their ethnic identities. The egalitarian
approach used by the government has no guarantee that the Khoisan can preserve their identity,
language and culture. The argument of the paper is that when such policies are applied to people,
their socio-cultural affairs are mismanaged. This social condition is akin to post-colonialism and its
consequences is that in modernity, ethnic groups such as the Khoisan can experience death of their
cultures and languages.