NOT OVER YET: Pitseng family lodge appeal in CKGR burial case

● Ngakagae joins forces with Ramaotwana ● Public asked to donate for case costs

The family of Gaoberekwe Pitseng will appeal a recent High Court judgment that barred them from entering and burying the 75-year-old man in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR).

The family had taken Government to task over refusal to be allowed the right to conduct the funeral and burial on the family’s ancestral land, situated in the national park.

This week lawyer Kgosi Ngakaagae, who after the judgment declared that he would take on the case to assist another lawyer, former Gaborone mayor, Nelson Ramaotwane, who had taken on as representative of the family pro bono, indicated that the Appeal in the matter has been finalised.

He further indicated that the stay of execution would be filed today (Wednesday), which is the deadline for compliance. Ngakaagae posted on his official page: “I have been in communication with Counsel Nelson Ramaotwana regarding the progress and we will meet this week.” He also indicated that they are still receiving contributions and donations from the public to raise funds for the appeal, noting that they would give an update on Saturday in efforts to make the process transparent.

The hopes by the Pitseng family to have court make a directive for their father, Gaoberekwe Pitseng, to be buried on their ancestral land was dashed by the Gaborone High Court last week when in his ruling, Justice Itumeleng Segopolo ordered that the family of the deceased should ensure that the burial is carried out within 10 days in New Xade, or the family, notably his son, Lesiame Pitseng, the complainant in the matter, would be faced with 30-day imprisonment.

Pitseng’s corpse has been lying in a morgue for over four months now as the family fights tooth and nail to ensure his last resting place is in Metsiamanong, located within the CKGR. Following his death, the family in respecting their culture and honouring his wishes, made plans to bury him in CKGR. However, they were told by the Ghanzi Council that they had to make an application to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) to have access to the CKGR, but their application was declined.

The family had sought an order that declared that the deceased was an unrepresented litigant in the Roy Sesana case, and that he had the right to be buried in CKGR stems, not only in accordance with the privileged rights from being one of the listed applicants in the Roy Sesana case, but also from common law.

Government lawyers, led by Sydney Pilane disputed, with corroborative evidence by the Ghanzi Council, that Gaoberekwe was part of the 189 litigants in the 2006 Roy Sesana VS Attorney General case, and that the family had no “entitlement” benefits to be allowed into the CKGR by virtue of being Basarwa.