{"id":34183,"date":"2023-09-10T06:46:22","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T06:46:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?p=34183"},"modified":"2023-09-10T06:27:22","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T06:27:22","slug":"reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns","title":{"rendered":"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>Research by four scientists at the University of Edinburgh, University of Free State and University of Stirling has failed to persuade Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica), a Canadian oil and gas company, as well as Namibia, that exploiting potential oil reserves in the Cubango Okavango River Basin (CORB) would be a catastrophic mistake. The Basin straddles Namibia and Botswana and exploration is already in full swing in the former.<\/b><\/p>\n

In June this year, the scientists in question (R. Sheldon, S. Esterhuyse, A. Lukas and S. Greenwood) published an academic paper titled \u201cPotential Groundwater Contamination from Oil Drilling in the Okavango\u201d in an academic journal called Physics and Chemistry of the Earth. The abstract makes a grim conclusion: \u201cResults indicate that contaminated groundwater from the oil lease areas could take 3\u201323.5 years to reach the Okavango River system via the shallow sandy aquifer, but in a worst-case scenario, contamination could reach the Delta within four days via structures associated with dykes and faults that serve as primary flow paths. Such contamination could adversely affect human health and the region\u2019s ecosystems and biodiversity. We recommend prohibiting oil exploration and production activities within the CORB until future studies can determine the impacts of hydrocarbon extraction with greater certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time that the paper was published, ReconAfrica, whose business operations are limited to \u201cthe opening of the newly discovered deep Kavango Sedimentary Basin in the Kalahari Desert of north-eastern Namibia and north-western Botswana\u201d, was in the process of recruiting an independent director to its Board of Directors. This past Tuesday, the company announced that Iman Hill has been appointed to that position.<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Hill joins the Board with over 25 years of senior oil & gas experience with extensive expertise in the technical and commercial aspects of the industry as well. Iman has a strong commitment to HSE, Sustainability and Energy Transition. Iman is a petroleum engineer and has held senior leadership roles at BP, Shell, BG, among others, during her career,\u201d the company said on its website.<\/p>\n

In welcoming Hill, Brian Reinsborough, ReconAfrica\u2019s president and CEO, said that he looked forward to working with her \u201cas we execute our growth strategy.\u201d At least on the basis of the research done by the four scientists, this growth strategy could spell doom for not just Botswana\u2019s premier touristic asset but for communities (the \u201criver people\u201d as they are called) who have subsisted on the Okavango River for centuries. In one respect, that has led to river-bound traditions and customs. If the River loses its practical usefulness to these communities, their cultures will die an unnatural death as a result.<\/p>\n

CORB straddles Botswana, Namibia and Angola but at least for now, there is no indication that any exploration will take place in the latter country \u2013 which is already oil-rich. The scientists warn that contamination from an exploration site in Namibia\u2019s East Kavango \u201ccould take 1.2 years to reach the Okavango River\u201d and that contaminated groundwater from another site \u201cwas calculated to take only 3.4 years to reach the most sensitive area of the Okavango River system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not that the scientists are completely opposed to the exploration. Their advice is that exploration activities in the region should be halted until detailed risk assessment studies of the water resources are completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe governments of Botswana and Namibia should protect the communities, biodiversity, and the health of regional ecosystems during oil extraction by requiring rigorous EIAs before permitting any oil exploration. Until such a time as further studies are made, OKACOM should also consider imposing a moratorium on all oil and gas exploration and production within the CORB.\u201d<\/p>\n

OKACOM refers to The Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission, a river basin organisation established by the riparian states of Angola, Botswana and Namibia, to jointly manage water resources of the Cubango-Okavango River.<\/p>\n

While the Commission recognises the legitimacy of petroleum exploration license issued to ReconAfrica by the relevant authorities in both Namibia and Botswana, it has also stressed the need to ensure that either member states complies with its Notification, Consultation and Negotiation process. In terms of this process members are obliged to prevent \u201csignificant harm\u201d when exploiting shared resources of the River Basin.<\/p>\n

Part of a statement that OKACOM released in July 2021 reads as follows: \u201cThe basic principle requiring States not to permit the causing of significant harm to other riparian states is laid down in international conventions, in customary international law, in national legal regulations and\/or in cooperation agreements of countries sharing river basins. Thus, each Member State concerned should prepare and submit relevant information and notification to other Member States in the Basin as soon as possible in line with the forgoing legislations and guidelines. Further to this the relevant Ministers should be involved and adequately briefed and advised on the status of these initiatives for them to make the necessary decisions as appropriate and guide the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

In approving ReconAfrica\u2019s operations, a Namibian parliamentary committee has published a report that essentially negates the concern that the scientists have expressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe oil and gas exploration has overwhelming support among the locals, traditional authorities and nationals at large, thus the Committee recommends for the continuation of the exploration project to complete the exploration phase,\u201d reads the Report on the Petitions by Save Okavango\u2019s Unique Lifestyle (SOUL), Civil Societies in Namibia and Fridays for Future of Windhoek to Stop Oil Drilling in the Okavango.<\/p>\n

The report follows a petition that SOUL presented to the government on February 24, 2021 in which the pressure group officialised its opposition to ReconAfrica\u2019s exploration. ReconAfrica subsidiaries are called Reconnaissance Energy Namibia (REN) and Reconnaissance Energy Botswana (REB). The company has been licensed to explore an area measuring 8.5 million acres of which 6.3 million acres (or 25 500 square metres) are in Namibia. That leaves Botswana with 2.2 million acres.<\/p>\n

On the basis of documents that were submitted to it, the Committee determined that REN complied with regulatory requirements of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism and that its operations were guided by Namibia\u2019s sustainable development initiatives. The Committee also satisfied itself that the Canadian company had engaged extensively with communities, local and regional governments, traditional authorities, conservancies and other interested stakeholders.<\/p>\n

Being politicians and obviously mindful of the long-term political gain, Namibian MPs also play up economic benefit that will accrue to citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, the Committee was informed that RECON Africa has established an environmental, social and governance (ESG) and carbon neutral strategy with concrete performance indicators to demonstrate its progress. The company is confident that should commercial oil bear fruit, Namibia stands to benefit a lot in terms of jobs, royalties, corporate income tax, additional profits tax, annual land rental payments, training payments, goods and services spending and infrastructure development.\u201d<\/p>\n

As ReconAfrica, the Namibian government has been keen to move things along at a fast clip. A month after the research of the scientist quartet was published, the company received its Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) from the Office of the Environmental Commissioner, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism. The ECC authorised ReconAfrica to commence the drilling of an additional 12 exploration and appraisal wells, to unrestricted depths, in the Kavango Basin in order \u201cto establish commercial accumulations of oil and or natural gas and natural gas liquids which were identified in the first three stratigraphic test wells.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company itself announced that its focus in the third and fourth quarters of 2023 (September to December) will be \u201cdeveloping and prioritizing its prospect inventory in order to execute a multi-well drilling program targeting both primary plays; the Damara Fold Belt and the Karoo Rift Basin, with initial emphasis on the Damara Fold Belt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Sunday Standard<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. Research by four scientists at the University of Edinburgh, University of Free State and University of Stirling has failed to persuade Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica), a Canadian oil and gas company, as well as Namibia, that exploiting potential oil reserves in the Cubango Okavango River Basin (CORB) would be a catastrophic mistake. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":34181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-34183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Research by four scientists at the University of Edinburgh, University of Free State and University of Stirling has f ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Research by four scientists at the University of Edinburgh, University of Free State and University of Stirling has f ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-10T06:46:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1694314561.983598.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"799\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-10T06:46:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns\"},\"wordCount\":1294,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1694314561.983598.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns\",\"name\":\"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns - Botswana\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1694314561.983598.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-10T06:46:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Research by four scientists at the University of Edinburgh, University of Free State and University of Stirling has f ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1694314561.983598.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1694314561.983598.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799,\"caption\":\"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/\",\"name\":\"Botswana\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns - Botswana","description":"Research by four scientists at the University of Edinburgh, University of Free State and University of Stirling has f ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns","og_description":"Research by four scientists at the University of Edinburgh, University of Free State and University of Stirling has f ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns","og_site_name":"Botswana","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-09-10T06:46:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":799,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1694314561.983598.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns","datePublished":"2023-09-10T06:46:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns"},"wordCount":1294,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1694314561.983598.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Botswana","Botswana"],"articleSection":["all news","files"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns","name":"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns - Botswana","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1694314561.983598.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-10T06:46:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Research by four scientists at the University of Edinburgh, University of Free State and University of Stirling has f ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1694314561.983598.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2023\/09\/sm_1694314561.983598.jpg","width":1200,"height":799,"caption":"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/reconafrica-namibia-press-ahead-with-drilling-project-despite-new-concerns#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ReconAfrica, Namibia press ahead with drilling project despite new concerns"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/","name":"Botswana","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}