Results and comments on the “Do you feel threatened by the Basotho in the Berg?” poll.
We’ve closed the long-standing poll “Do you feel threatened by the Basotho in the Berg?” The first vote was cast on the 7th of April 2008 and the last one on the 2nd of July 2009.
Of the 79 voters, 43 voted yes (54.4%), 28 voted no (35.4%), and 8 were not sure (10.1%).
The results indicate a significant insecurity among the Drakensberg hiking community. One of the prime aims of Vertical Endeavour is to continue addressing this. We will continue to publish any related news and statistics we come across, and will continue to promote an awareness and preparedness on how to come to terms with this issue.
While there are several articles in the making, I do want to emphasise 2 points briefly here.
1. It is not our intention to scare people away from the Berg. In fact we encourage people to go, but we want them to be better prepared when they do. A lot of potential incidents can be averted by awareness. It is to no-ones benefit by keeping quiet about what is going on there.
2. We do not want to instil any ill-feeling or prejudice towards the Basotho people. Most Basotho are innocent. My travels through Lesotho have left me with impressions of a warm and friendly people. I have even been assisted by them in various situations, several times.
Vertical Endeavour is committed to working towards a safer, cleaner and well-looked-after Drakensberg. And each one of us has a role to play.
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