Straddling the Traditional/Modernity Development Divide: The Khomani San of the Southern Kalahari.

In 1999, the Khomani community of Southern Kalahari was awarded a large expanse of land they had lodged a claim for in 1994. This was an attempt aimed at redressing the many years of description against the community. In this paper, we assess how the community negotiates the "traditional" and "modern" worlds in finding a suitable development model to utilise the restored land for their livelihood strategies. Using the social capital theory and the capability approach, we provide insights into factors that contribute to persistent poverty and inequality in the community. We argue that the lack of solidarity among the community provides challenges for collective networks of livelihood strategies. This disconnect negatively affects the social and human capital of the community. The paper also notes that the paternalist approach of government and aid agencies in the community undermine the community's agency and therefore fail to capture the many local intricacies that can be harnessed for development. We contend that by insisting that the San community remains as a pristine hunter-gatherer (through the exclusive funding of projects considered as 'tradition'), government and development organisations further disempower the community and therefore contribute to the perpetuation of injustice towards the community. The paper observes the connection between land, economic choices, power, and identities and the implication of these for livelihood development among the Khomani San Community. We argue that the application of the capability approach to understanding the barriers to development in the community and getting them to become active agents in championing the course development should be adopted in further development works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]