The protected area that is South Africa’s Golden Gate Highlands National Park is seemingly providing safe passage into Lesotho for livestock thieves and drug smugglers.

The park was one stop during an oversight visit to the Free State province by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Select Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Mineral Resources (SCALRMR). Also part of the oversight visit was the NCOP Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade (SCEDT) with illegal land occupation also on the agenda.

While at the Golden Gate park parliamentarians heard the national conservation site has become a corridor used by “organised crime syndicates” to move cattle and horses stolen from commercial farms in South Africa into landlocked Lesotho. The livestock rustling issue, according to a Parliamentary Communication Services statement, goes beyond park boundaries and adversely affects local communities.

Another negative is theft and vandalism on the R712 provincial road leaving entrances to the park “compromised”. Committee members heard access control will be restored with park management looking at “robust solutions” to end unauthorised access. The SA National Defence Force (SANDF), as part of its Operation Corona border safeguarding tasking, has “a presence” along the road to assist with border management.

Among recommendations post the oversight visit are a referral to its sister committee on security and justice for “enhanced” traffic enforcement on the R712, better co-ordination on transport of illicit goods and preventing illegal occupation.