locked farm gates

[african dust]

having just got back from a short visit to the klein Karoo I noticed that it seems to becoming more common in finding some of the small tertiary roads are having gates put up, stopping you from continuing. years ago the normal practise is leave them as you find them...so if they were open leave them so, if closed then close them again. Problem now is that people seem to be more often locking the gates and somehow claiming the road as being private. what is the story, obviously I am not keen to go breaking locks for two reasons, firstly it just feels wrong and secondly I am not exactly sure on what the latest legal deal that are happening btw land owners and the local government.
One road in particular that seems to be closed is the road that runs through sanbona, down sout kloof, just outside barrydale. tracks for africa and the various maps I chked, even the gov signage seems to show it as a puplic road ?
does anybody know what the deal is ?
I imagine it is to do with security and the crises that farmers face, but there too might be a bit of pushing their luck to try claim that which is not theirs to claim to the exclusion of others ?

 

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