THE LESOTHOSOUTH AFRICA BORDER PROBLEM

The Kingdom of Lesotho, which is entirely landlocked, shares a border of 909km with three of South Africa’s provinces, namely the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. In many instances, the border does not exist in any physical sense, but is an “artificial border on a map”, according to researcher Richard Chelin.

Chelin works on the Enact Africa programme, which is funded by the EU and aims to enhance the response to transnational organised crime on the continent, at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS). He specialises in three areas, namely cybercrime, natural resource exploitation, and wildlife crimes such as poaching and illicit trade in fauna or flora.

It was his research in these fields that prompted him to take a closer look at the affects of transnational livestock theft committed by crime syndicates operating between South Africa and Lesotho.

“We’ve found that this [livestock theft] has a much more detrimental effect on the economy than previously thought, and is becoming more