High Court to rule as deceased awaits burial
L Deceased has four months in the morgue
Justice Itumeleng Segopolo of the Gaborone High Court will this morning make a ruling in the case in which Lesiame Pitseng is asking to be allowed to bury his father Pitseng Gaoberekwe at Metsiamanong in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). The body of the deceased has been lying in a morgue in Gantsi for four months.
Government has persistently denied the family permission to allow for the body of Gaoberekwe to be interred in the CKGR. Responding to the application before the court, State attorney, Advocate Sidney Pilane has argued that the deceased has no right to be buried in the game reserve.
“He is deceased and no longer exists as a person with rights. He is now a thing. And the question arises whether anybody can assert his right when he is deceased and what right does the applicant have to assert the dead person’s right?” argued Pilane.
The State also submitted that the deceased was not a beneficiary of the 2006 High Court judgement of Sesana and Others versus the Attorney General because he was not part of the 189 people who formed the case.
Pilane also argued that since the Constitution has been amended to remove
Section 14.3.C, the deceased did not have a right to live in the CKGR. Section 14.3.C was a key clause in the Constitution that protected Basarwa’s freedom of movement in the game reserve.
The effect of the amendment was that no one is allowed to be in the CKGR without a permit.
The State submitted that the deceased had a homestead in New Xade where he was a permanent resident. Pilane further argued that the applicant presented no evidence to prove that his father lived in the CKGR.
The applicant was represented by Nelson Ramaotwana and submitted that he has a duty and right to bury his father. He said the deceased has a homestead in the CKGR and being the son, he resides at the deceased’s home at Metsiamanong.