botswana/namibia - Cour international de Justice

The Von Frankenberg Map of 1912, Karte des Caprivi Zipfels, Blatt 1, 1:100,000, issued
under the authority of Von Frankenberg, the Imperial District Chief and Resident in the
Caprivi (Botswana Supplementary Atlas, Map 5)
585. This map was produced on the basis of a survey by and with the authority of Von
Frankenberg, the District Chief and Resident in the eastern Caprivi. No boundary is shown
but the southern channel is clearly indicated as "Kassikiri Flüss-arm"; a term which in the
certified translation reads "as branch or tributary of a main river" and is so used in standard
works of reference. (Botswana Supplementary Atlas, Map 7 and Figure at page 233 of this
Chapter, being a reproduction to original scale of a section of the Von Frankenberg map). The
labelling of the southern channel with its own name clearly implies that the River Chobe
flows through the northern channel. The significance of the words "Kassikiri Flüss-arm" is
not lost on Namibia's advisers. Contrary to Rushworth, who "believes the word "Insel" applies
to the Island, while the phrase "Kassikiri Flüss-arm" applies to the southern channel of the
river", they argue "that 'Insel Kassikiri' applies to the Island, while the "Flüss-arm" applies to
the southern channel of the river". They clearly appreciated that a side stream which has its
own name cannot be the main channel of the Chobe.
586. There can be no doubt that the Von Frankenberg map provides strong evidence that, at
the time of its making in 1912, the northern channel was regarded as the main channel of the
Chobe, if not as the Chobe River itself, a determination confirmed by Captain Eason in his
Report of 1912.
587. The Namibian Memorial accepts this map as one "surveyed and drawn by German
Imperial Residents in the Strip in their official capacities" (para 296) and as "evidence of the
views of officials with special knowledge as to political matters", (Namibian Memorial,
p.123, para.300, citing Brownlie,'International Law at the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United
Nations', p.161. Annex 116). This map stands out among the map evidence and provides
convincing support for the Botswana case.
(iv) Conclusion on the German maps
588. The unofficial Seiner map cannot be said to indicate the location of the boundary in the
Chobe River whatever the colour in which it may delineate Sulumbu's Island. Seiner himself
stated that the boundary was to be determined in accordance with the thalweg or 'the
Stromstrich line'. Official correspondence in 1905 and in the period 1909 to 1914 makes it
plain that the British authorities in no way recognised or acquiesced in any representation
contained in the Seiner map nor did they subsequently make use of the map, referring more
frequently to Streitwolf's or Captain Stigand's maps. The Von Frankenberg map provides
overwhelming evidence that the southern channel was a tributary known as the 'Kassikiri
Flüss-arm' of the main stream of the Chobe which flowed through the northern channel.
(v) The British Maps 1914 to 1945
Sketch Map of Ngamiland and Ghanzi by A.G. Stigand 1922 1:500,000 War Office
(Botswana Supplementary Atlas, Map 6)
G39 - Extract from Karte des Caprivi Zipfels, Blatt 1, 1:100,000, May 1912 (Map 5 in
Supplementary Atlas)