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Spoke to someone on the ground there today. The dispute is ongoing, but without the violence from the beginning of the year. There is a police presence but this should not put anybody off going there. The situation seems under control and has not and should not stop visitors from going. The negative publicity from the previous time was bigger than the situation actually was.

While the most recent update was that the issues had been resolved, I had news today that the situation had flared up again, with helicopters deployed to the road leading to Cathedral Peak Hotel, and the police patrolling again.

While I have searched the news channels for information updates, I have yet to find news confirmation of the phone call. However, just for those planning to go to the Cathedral area this weekend, to be aware of the situation, and keep eyes open. I have also contacted the Didima camp and no issues had been reported , but caution should prevail!

Previous reports had indicated that the feuding land claimants had no issues with the tourists passing to Didima and Cathedral Peak Hotel, some caution might be advisable while passing along the road.

For further info, the Didima camp can be contacted on: (036) 4888000

I have it on good authority from someone living and working in the area that this issue has been resolved and that the situation has been calm for some time now.

I should perhaps say that we did have problems on that road 2 weeks back: we came very close to hitting a cop car that was on our side of the road as we came around a corner! Also some potholes are becoming rather evil, either almost taking up the width of the road or waiting in ambush when you come around a corner.


I dont imagine that this is the end of the trouble though it has now been mediated by government officials even, see this statement . I know that extra policemen have been staying in Winterton for some time and my understanding is that they are there because of the problems.

Some other info I've read on the net is that this conflict started in 1989 already! It's between the Magangangozi and Mhlwazini communities. My guess it that it's in the general area of the store at Brotherton, where the Mhlwazini river joins the Mlambonja. The Magangangozi clan have apparently been building houses on land belonging to the Mhlwazini clan.

Five people have been killed since January and more violence erupted just before Easter resulting in 20 houses being burned down, people were injured and an employee working at Didima lost his life.

I'm confident that they mean no harm to the tourists as far as this conflict is concerned. The Cathedral Peak Hotel did not close over this period. One can never be assured of safety though should there be violence along the road, so best to be cautious.

I'm sure though that members of these communities are working with the Basutho dagga smugglers and have also been responsible for the long-standing theft problems at the Cathedral Peak campsite. Both activities take place in this area.

Hey Harry. The camp has been re-opened, but some security risk apparently still flares up from time to time... Although it does not, or should not, affect the people within the Ezemvelo protected area, the tensions evist between two groups along the road near the entrance. It has been a long and bitter feud which has been raging under the surface, but came to a head shortly before the easter weekend, forcing the closure. As a result of the closure of the camp, and the police presence along the road, high level negotiations were put into place and have apparently resolved the issues. One never knows unfortunately.

I guess it is safe to say that you are probably safer on this road, than most roads in say, Jhb, CT and Dbn! Although, your timing may be wrong.

I will shortly be doing an article for the site on the moved campsite at Cathedral and the proposed moving of the day visitor site and why... Stay tuned! It should make an interesting read!

Thanks for the Didima info, very helpful.
Is this a once-off or a disturbing trend in that area?

Just come back from Cathedral. I don't imagine that the tension it completely gone, but we didn't encounter any problems on the road.

Hi Emile,

I'm totally distraught to hear this!

Really sorry you guys had to go through that, especially after you've been so careful and so aware of the security issues. I totally understand that it puts you off the Berg.

Where exactly were you camping? Was it along the the river that starts at Ifidi Pass and eventually joins the Khubedu? I know that there are kraals where these smaller valleys join the main valley. If you could post a GPS co-ordinate it would be very helpful and I'll update some of the info on this site.

The shepherds in that area have become experts and are very aware of where stuff is stored in tents and how to get it out quickly and quietly. The Easter weekend is a weekend that they capitalise on every time. And the weather doesn't stop them - even in snow!

They must have spotted you during the day after the first night whilst shepherding, as it's unlikely that they would routinely be prowling around in that area at night as they do along the Tugela. It's a pity you had to stop, as it might not have happened if you had moved on (not that there was anything wrong with the decision to let the group recover and get dry).

You did the right thing by posting guard duty! It's a total drag doing it, I know (done it several times).

I'm saddened that it's becoming so bad, and that even after taking all precautions one is still not immune. The Khubedu valley area is seriously bad and it's spilling over into Ifidi and Icidi.

I hope that you can find it within yourself not to give up on the Berg!

Hi everyone

I had to return from this weekend's hike a day early because of: you guessed it- theft.

I took a party of 18 friends from Witsieshoek to Ifidi on Friday, 21 March. The weather was a bit on the bad side and we woke up to some more of that on Saturday. Since about half my group was inexperienced and sore, cold and wet from the previous day, I decided to stay there for another day. Our camp was next to the river, about 1km from the escarpment edge inside Lesotho.

At 23:00 on Saturday night, one friend's shouting woke me up. A Basutho had cut their tent at the exact location where their backpacks had been and had pulled one out. Soon afterwards, someone else realised that 2 pairs of shoes were stolen from another tent, also with exact precision. This all had occured during a vicious thunderstorm. In the extreme cold we found some footprints, all barefooted- unbelievable considering the icy cold weather!

An interesting observation: they cut the only 2 tents which didn't have flysheets all the way round. They also knew exactly where everything was in the tents, even though it was impossible to observe this from the outside at any given time, even during the day when they must have been watching us. I have attached a picture of the cut tent.

Overall, the loss wasn't too bad considering we were 18 people, but still it has become rediculous. We took every precaution, stored everything inside, took a large group etc. We set guard duty for the rest of the night, and I can honestly say that doing this was absolutely terrible, and I would never have done this as a precaution. I took the first shift in the rain and even my old faithful (and excellent) Capestorm Monsoon Jacket and Pants were battling to keep the water out. When I took the last shift at 04:45, I almost froze to death, again even with my Capestorm Devil's Tooth, Cape-to-Rio and Monsoon Jacket on. It's absolutely crazy and one can't expect to post proper guard duty if everyone doesn't have the best gear. To stay awake inside a tent also won't help, we wouldn't have heard a thing in the rain.

I spoke to the KZN Wildlife guards back at the carpark. Apparently the night before, they couldn't even stop them with an R-1 rifle on the Amphi. I think I'm going to find a new place to hike. It's a sad day, because the Drakensberg has always been my passion and I've hiked there since I was 9 years old. I saw on 50-50 that they want to establish Lesotho as a buzzing hiking tourist location, I'll write them a letter and tell them the truth about the real problems. Maybe we can go hiking in safety in future, wouldn't that be great?!

Cheers

Emile

Latest news in, this excerpt from the East Coast Radio website:

It’s news that comes as a relief to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. The tense standoff between rival communities along the only route leading to the Didima Camp, has ended…

Mediation efforts by local government have resulted in a peace accord being reached.

Ezemvelo’s Jeff Gaisford says this means the Didima camp has been re-opened with immediate effect.

“EKZNW staff at Didima Camp who were instructed by their community leaders to remain at home, have returned to work and are currently getting the Camp up and running once more,” said spokesman Jeff Gaisford.

“Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife staff will contact all people who had confirmed bookings at Didima Camp and who could not be accommodated elsewhere, to request them to reinstate their bookings.

“EKZNW would like to thank the provincial Cabinet and the leadership of the affected communities for resolving the situation and regrets any inconvenience to members of the public caused by the closure of Didima Camp,” he said.

Good news for those wanting to spend their easter weekend in our neck of the woods!