Berg Alert 2019

For a number of reasons it has taken me a while to summon the courage to post here. I would like to make some observations, they are general observations and are not meant to be disrespectful to anyone or a comment on any particular unfortunate ‘incident’
between hikers and local people in the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho or the South
African Drakensberg – I fully realise I was not there! 

In my opinion, there is no doubt that the perpetrator(s) mentioned at the start of
this thread, dressed in items of camouflage clothing and carrying automatic
rifles were members of the Lesotho Army. I have encountered men fitting this
description elsewhere along the Eastern border of Lesotho over the last two
years or so. 

From what I remember, the general consensus at a meeting I attended hosted by EKZN Wildlife
in RNNP almost two years ago was that a visible presence by the Lesotho Army
along their Eastern border would be welcomed in an attempt to help control
robbers, dagga smugglers and stock thieves. As I havewritten in our Notes on Basotho Culture (published elsewhere on Vertical Endeavour),
there is a ‘technical’ border along the top of the Drakensberg, the watershed
or continental divide – this is the one marked on most maps, and a ‘perceived’ border
– the cliffs or ‘Dilomo tsa Natala’ the Cliffs of Natal in Sesotho. Whether we
South Africans like it or not, the perceived border is the one understood by
99% of Basotho, including those with an education, such as Lesotho border officials
and soldiers. As South Africans there is nothing we can do that will change this
perception, besides a mass education and awareness campaign which would most likely have
limited success, so in my opinion, we may as well get used to it. Yes, and that
includes the top of the Amphitheatre. 

For sometime hikers hiking along the top of the Drakensberg have been strongly encouraged
by South African authorities to carry their passports with them. Bearing in
mind my previous point, once hikers have crested the cliffs of the Drakensberg
Escarpment, in my opinion, and in common with most international borders,
hikers should be willing to show their passports to Lesotho officials, and
would be wise to be respectful, friendly and forthcoming about where they have
come from and where they are going, whether they may consider they are standing
on South African soil or not. 

The Lesotho Army patrols are there to curb criminal activity. Unfortunately it is
almost inevitable that there will be a few ‘bad apples’ among them. I am not
excusing this type of behavior, but when hiking along an international border
perhaps it is prudent to put away opinions about who is standing on who’s soil,
whether expressed or implied, as this could very unfortunately be mistaken for arrogance
and disrespect, and perhaps instead express some gratitude in simple Sesotho (kea
leboha) for what they are trying to achieve.

Hikers may well be surprised by the positive response they get.  

Certainly a helpful insightful post and thanks for this Philip. I agree with all said. Borders, passports etc can all be complied with but I do believe these three men are a potential hazard that in some way or another has to be addressed. Education, knowledge, respect and all will come to no avail when 3 men act according to a law of their own as they have been doing.

These LDF guys must of been smoking dagga (Matekoane) and were most probably not in a normal frame of mind. We are in Africa and must expect to encounter situations such as this from time to time and the outcome depends on how we react (our body language, facial expressions, tone of voice and words we use) Maybe everyone who hikes on the escarpment border should at least learn a few greeting words and this will be the first line of respect. When I recently cycled through Lesotho I made sure to learn all the basic greeting words and a few extra words and this made all the difference! Also over years of observation I have never seen a shepherds hut (Motebo) on the SA side of the watershed border, some how they know not to build there. At the end of the day it has nothing to do with where the border is but on how we interact with them. I highly recommend this book to all who hike on the escarpment. I purchased my copy from the Sani Backpackers Lodge.

 

Richard Hunt wrote: These LDF guys must of been smoking dagga (Matekoane) and were most probably not in a normal frame of mind. 
 

Before this thread start following the wrong frame of mind I believe it is important to correct this. I believe the last 2 posts on the Basutho culture etc had the right intentions. However, please do not assume and make conclusions about these men and possibly even worse, excuse them. I know with Geoff's account this was different yet in our encounter these men were not on Dagga. The only drug they were on was that which any irresponsible person would experience walking around with an R4.

Not one person in our party at any time was disrespectful in any way. I believe the only thing that prevented a tense moment from escalating was the patience, as well as proper understanding of the situation. Threatening and being aggressive towards a 9 year old boy and avoiding a situation with this boys dad I can only ascribe to my friends character and moral fibre. In my talks with these men I was tense and for the duration of the conversation my mind was racing as to release the tension and saying with respect whatever I could to ease this mood. Never have I experienced this type of behaviour and I don't believe any hiker should have to face this kind of encounter and even more so the incident Geoff had.

Dagga, border disputes, linguistics, culture neither any other reasonable excuse I will "bless "these men with. This I say not with a vengeful attitude towards them because of what we experienced, but because I firmly believe this encounter belong in the thread "Berg Alert" and should be treated as such for the safety of everybody.

"Also over years of observation I have never seen a shepherds hut (Motebo) on the SA side of the watershed border, some how they know not
to build there. At the end of the day it has nothing to do with where
the border is but on how we interact with them. I highly recommend this
book to all who hike on the escarpment. I purchased my copy from the
Sani Backpackers Lodge".

Hi Richard,

With respect, there are Metibo on the Eastern Slopes of the approaches to the Northern Hodgsons Peaks...

I fully endorse your recommendation of the book 'Shepherd Boy of the Maluti' and have mentioned it elsewhere! Happy reading

Interesting observation. Ive been contacted via e-mail about this but thus far have not received further formal action to take as I believe this is something that we are trying to address as a group. Ive just now sent a mail following up but perhaps you could be more specific with the your comment here? Other than the contact over mail, I have not received any correspondence from KZN or any other governing or, legal body advising of channels and actions to take from my side at least. I have in much detail set out dates and times and places of our incident and don't wish to duplicate anything. Perhaps contacting those who had these ordeals directly would be of more help? Even more so by the bodies who can actually do something about this and who claim to want to do something about it.