On the Western Border of our Drakensberg World Heritage Site is an independent country with another culture – I am referring of course to Lesotho.
In the course of our work as mountain guides over the past seven years or so, which frequently involve multi-day trips within Lesotho, we have increasingly come to the realisation that a sizable proportion of stories that circulate in South Africa of negative interactions between (mainly) South African hikers and travellers and Basotho people on the western border of the Drakensberg, or within Lesotho, arise first and foremost from a basic ignorance of Basotho culture, and what to expect in Lesotho or when hiking on top of the Drakensberg, sometimes combined with a disregard for Lesotho’s status as a fully independent country. These misunderstandings and misinterpretations often result in feelings of intimidation and fear amongst (mainly) South African visitors when meeting Basotho people in the mountains, for a variety of reasons.
More worryingly, and perhaps of even more concern, is the way these negative stories become embellished by others, after the so called ‘victims’ have returned to South Africa. Those who embellish the stories frequently have even less knowledge of what to expect on top of the Drakensberg and in Lesotho than the so called ‘victims’, and seemingly purposely misinterpret, change and sensationalise these stories for reasons we can only speculate on.
Still more people comment and react hysterically on the embellished stories before taking the trouble to obtain the facts. Through the media and the medium of email these inaccurate and negative stories, and the ‘knee-jerk’ reactions to them, sometimes circulate around the globe, with implications for South Africa’s and Lesotho’s tourist industry, which so many of us in the Southern Drakensberg rely on to a greater and lesser degree for our livelihoods.
In our opinion, if this phenomenon continues unchecked it will eventually result in a serious confrontation on the western border of our Drakensberg World Heritage Site which, when it happens, will have very far reaching negative consequences.
We have two case studies in writing (with names removed) to show how this happens.
We have been accused of trying to ‘hide the truth’, or even that ‘our vested interests as mountain guides overshadow our ability to reason’.
On the contrary, we are interested in circulating a true, accurate, rational and knowledgably interpreted version of any so called ‘incident’. This is surely in the interest of us all, especially those of us working in the tourist industry, as well as in the interests our South African and overseas visitors.
With our ever increasing knowledge of Lesotho and the ‘way things work’ there, we believe that we can make a positive contribution, by realistically helping to interpret and unravel negative stories emanating from the top of the Drakensberg and Lesotho. We do not for a moment think that we will have all the answers all the time, but rather that we can add an alternative perspective, and an alternative interpretation.
We would be prepared to meet with anyone with an open mind who is prepared to listen, in the interests of hopefully helping to prevent a serious confrontation, which unfortunately at this stage, we think is inevitable in the not too distant future.
We have written five pages of ‘Notes on Basotho Culture for Hikers and Overland Travellers in Lesotho’. They have been published in the latest Mountain Club of South Africa Journal. We will gladly email a copy on request. Alternatively they can be downloaded from our website http://www.southernsecrets.co.za click on ‘blog’.
Philip and Christeen Grant
082 417 9162 / 3
pgrant@yebo.co.za
christeen@yebo.co.za
http://www.southernsecrets.co.za
Southern Secrets Hiking 