Environmental Issues

Despite the fact that the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park is a World Heritage site, it is faced with some pressing environmental issues.

Smuggling

One of the most important problems at present is dagga smuggling by Basuthos.  Whether the reader is of the opinion that dagga should be legalised in South Africa or not, the following facts remain:

1. The Basuthos involved do not pay for their entry to the park as other legitimate users are required to!

2. The smugglers open up new paths and take short cuts on existing ones without any concern for the erosion that will inevitably result.

3. They drop litter along their routes, including hessian and plastic bags, cloth bindings and food packaging.

4. They makes fires in the open or in caves and other overhangs.  The making of fires is strictly prohibited since firewood is a non-renewable resource and there is the danger of starting runaway veld fires during the dry winter months.  Smoke also damages the bushman paintings found in some of the caves used by the smugglers.

5. In some areas, the smugglers use donkeys to carry the dagga bales down mountain passes.  There are several passes where the carcasses and skeletons of donkeys killed in accidents can be seen alongside smugglers' litter.  Besides the cruelty, livestock cause even more erosion than humans, and there is the added danger of spreading disease.

6. While to date there is no evidence tying smugglers to assaults on hikers, there is always the possibility that this will happen, especially since many hikers carry cell phones and are therefore able to inform the authorities about any smugglers they come across.

7. The under-staffed parks authorities have been burdened with additional tasks, such as repairing erosion damage and assigning staff to monitor anti-smuggling operations while the SANDF (South African National Defence Force) was patrolling the mountains.

8. The SANDF operations themselves placed a huge ecological stress on the environment.  Some caves were used as bases by the SANDF for several years, resulting in well-worn patrol routes, littered caves, rubbish dumps, helicopter drop zones, etc.  The SANDF also intruded on the seclusion previously enjoyed by hikers, since they could be intercepted and questioned by patrols.

Sadly, the SANDF was unsuccessful in putting an end to the smuggling.  The quality of their recruits, their training, equipment, fitness, leadership and motivation, were simply not up to the task of catching the Basutho smugglers in the act.  Even when the SANDF was patrolling the mountains, the author witnessed an exponential growth in dagga trafficking through the Berg.  The smugglers are simply too fit, too motivated and too knowledgeable of the mountains, and equipped with cell-phones they could outwit any attempt by the SANDF to catch them.  Add to this the problem of trying and jailing foreign nationals in South Africa, many of whom may be under age, and the extent of the problem becomes even more obvious.

The author is of the opinion that the problem of dagga smuggling should be tackled at its roots - in Lesotho by the Lesotho authorities, but this is complicated by the fact that dagga is not illegal there!  If the Lesotho Police and Defence Force could arrest the traffickers on their side of the border, there would not be any smuggling taking place through the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site.  Despite the evidence to suggest that dagga is becomingly an increasingly attractive cash crop and is starting to replace subsistence farming in certain areas of Lesotho, there seems to be a lack of will on the part of both the Lesotho and South African authorities to put an end to the smuggling.

A hiker is seen on the contour path above an eroded short-cut made by dagga smugglers above Ndedema Gorge in the Cathderal Peak Wilderness Area.  This area is also a Special Conservation Area (SCA) due to the numerous Bushman paintings found there.  The presence of the well-worn short-cut encourages others - including hikers - to use it instead of the more overgrown, less-used, contour path.  It is also interesting to note that the controlled burn uses the short-cut and not the original path!

Litter left by smugglers on the same path referred to above.

Stock Theft

Stock theft has been as issue since the arrival of White settlers in the foothills of the Natal Drakensberg in the 1800s.  There have been many incidents in the past, some of which have even lent names to peaks, passes and caves!  Marauding Basuthos continue to carry out raids on both White and Zulu owned stock.  Stock thieves have an even greater environmental impact than smugglers, because in addition to the the smuggler-related issues outlined above, the passage of quite large numbers of cattle causes even more damage than a few dagga-toting donkeys, and inevitably some cattle go astray during the mad drive to get them up the passes.

Apparently the presence of the SANDF in the Berg almost put a stop to stock theft. It seems that since stock is far harder to move or conceal, dagga smuggling is a more appealing alternative.  However, there have been reports of a link between the two - Zulus stealing cattle to exchange for dagga brought down from Lesotho by Basuthos.  There have even been claims of gun-running, where Zulus exchange stolen cattle for automatic weapons which the Basuthos seem to have quite easy access to.

With the recent withdrawal of the SANDF from the Berg, one can expect an increase in stock theft unless the proposed South African Police patrols are implemented very soon.

Last modified on 2006/04/19