COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012). Title of the thesis or dissertation (Doctoral Thesis / Master’s Dissertation). Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/102000/0002 (Accessed: 22 August 2017). A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE RECURRENCE OF COUPS IN THE KINGDOM OF LESOTHO – 1970-2014 A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Politics and International Relations of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Johannesburg by Letlhogonolo Mpho Letshele 201417806 October 2019 In Fulfilment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Johannesburg, South Africa Supervisor: Prof Annie Barbara Chikwanha Co-Supervisor: Prof Chris Landsberg 1 ABSTRACT Since its independence, the Kingdom of Lesotho has experienced the recurrence of coups (1970-2014). A process of re-democratisation was attempted in the country in 1993 but another coup succeeded the elections. The next elections in 1998 were marked by the worst political violence in the history of Lesotho. Electoral reforms were then introduced in 2002. Still, the reforms did not prevent the coup attempt in 2014. Understanding the factors causing these coups, and other related problems of political instability, is important for solving Lesotho’s general social and economic challenges. This study attempts to provide an explanation for recurrent coups in Lesotho by critically assessing the sociopolitical factors that nurture this practice; and examines particular patterns of events that could present the likelihood of the occurrence of these coups. By using a historical analysis of the trajectory of these coups, the study endeavours to identify the triggers of the coups and relate these to national political developments. The study makes use of a qualitative research design, and uses mostly secondary sources of data. The results are analysed via content analysis to identify the trigger similarities and differences, and correlations among the coups. Keywords: Coups; Election-Related Conflict; Military Intervention; Lesotho Highlands Water Project; South Africa; Civil-Military Relations; Military-Police Relations. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Annie Barbara Chikwanha for all her hard work and commitment in the writing of my thesis. I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to my co-supervisor Professor Chris Landsberg for his never- ending support and guidance in my academic journey. I would like to thank the National University of Lesotho (NUL). I would like to extend a special thanks to both Professor Motlamelle Kapa and Dr Tlohang Letsie for their time and teachings during my stay at NUL. I would also like to thank the staff and scholars at the library at the National University of Lesotho. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the staff at the Morija Museum and Archives in Roma for their patience and guidance in my search for literature for the study. I would also like to thank Professor John Aerni-Flessner for sharing his invaluable historical knowledge of Lesotho. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Ralph Mathekga for his continued support in the writing of my thesis. I would like to thank the SARChI Chair on African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy and the Department of Politics and International Relations, at the University of Johannesburg for providing an encouraging environment to complete my research. I would like acknowledge Ellen Joubert for her excellent work in the editing of the thesis. I am eternally grateful to my family, and to my mother, for her never-ending moral support in the writing of my thesis. 4 Table of Contents Page Number AFFIDAVIT 2 ABSTRACT 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES 8 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 9 CHAPTER ONE: A CRITICAL NARRATIVE OF THE LESOTHO COUPS 11 1.1 Introduction 11 1.2 Problem Statement 14 1.3 Study Objectives 19 1.4 Methodology 20 1.5 Research Ethics 21 1.6 Structure of the Study 21 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 23 CHAPTER THREE: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF LESOTHO COUPS 37 3.1 Introduction 37 3.2 Embroynic Democracy, 1965-1970 39 3.3 Authoritarian Rule, 1970-86 41 3.4 Military Rule, 1986-93 44 3.5 Fragile Democracy, 1993-2014 48 3.6 Conclusion 52 5 CHAPTER FOUR: UNRAVELLING THE RECURRENCE OF COUPS 61 4.1 Introduction 61 4.2 An Overview of the Root Causes of the Coups 62 4.2.1 Formation of Political Parties and the role of the Church 62 4.2.2 Relationship between Chief Leabua Jonathan and King Moshoeshoe II 63 4.2.3 Significance of the 1965 pre-independence General Elections 65 4.2 Explaining the Recurrence of Lesotho’s Coups 67 4.3 The 2014 Attempted Coup and the role of ‘Coalition Politics’ 76 4.4 Conclusion 82 CHAPTER FIVE: THE PROS AND CONS OF SOUTH AFRICA’S INTERVENTIONS IN LESOTHO 87 5.1 Introduction 87 5.2 An Overview of South Africa’s intervention in Lesotho 89 5.2.1 The 1986 Military Coup Case 89 5.2.2 The 1994 Military Crisis Case 91 5.2.3 The 1998 Constitutional Crisis Case 92 5.2.4 The 2014 Attempted Coup Case 94 5.3 An Analysis of the role of South Africa in Lesotho’s Politics and the Coups 96 5.4 Conclusion 100 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 106 6.1 Conclusion 6.1.1 Introduction 106 6 6.1.2 The Evolution of the Coups 106 6.1.3 What has been the response to these Coups? 112 6.1.4 The Objective of the Study and Research Methodology 112 6.1.5 The Meaning of Coup (s) 112 6.1.6 Summary of Research Findings 113 6.2 Recommendations 116 6.2.1 The National Government 116 6.2.2 The South African Government 117 6.2.3 The Southern African Development Community (SADC) 117 REFERENCE LIST 118 APPENDICES 124 7 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: The 1970 General Election for the National Assembly Table 2: The 1993 General Election for the National Assembly Table 3: The 1998 General Election for the National Assembly Table 4: Types of Coups in Lesotho Table 5: The 2012 National Assembly Seat Allocation 8 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ABC- All Basotho Convention Party ANC- African National Congress AU- African Union BAC- Basutoland African Congress Party BCP- Basutoland Congress Party BDF- Botswana Defence Force BNP- Basotho National Party CAR- Central African Republic CDP- Christian Democratic Party DC- Democratic Congress DRC- Democratic Republic of Congo ECOWAS- Economic Community of West African States FPTP- First Past the Post IEC- Independent Electoral Commission IMF- International Monetary Fund IPA- Interim Political Authority KBP- Kopanang Basotho Party LAC- Lesotho Agricultural College LCD- Lesotho Congress for Democracy LCN- Lesotho Council of Non-Governmental Organisations LDF- Lesotho Defence Force LEC- Lesotho Evangelical Church LHWP- Lesotho Highlands Water Project 9 LLA- Lesotho Liberation Army LMPS- Lesotho Mounted Police Service LPF- Lesotho Paramilitary Force MCO- Ministerial Committee of the Organ MFP- Marematlou Freedom Party MMP- Mixed-Member Proportional MSA- Maseru Security Accord NIP- National Independence Party NUL- National University of Lesotho OTAM- Organ Troika Assessment Mission PAC- Pan-Africanist Congress PEMS- Paris Evangelical Missionary Society PFD- Popular Front for Democracy PMU- Police Mobile Unit PR- Proportional Representation RCC- Roman Catholic Church SACP- South African Communist Party SACU- Southern African Customs Union SADC- Southern African Development Community SANDF- South African National Defence Force UDP- United Democratic Party UNDP United Nations Development Programme USA- United States of America 10 CHAPTER ONE A CRITICAL NARRATIVE OF THE LESOTHO COUPS 1.1 Introduction This thesis analyzes the history and causes of coups in the Kingdom of Lesotho. Understanding the transition from colonial to independent rule in Lesotho gives important clarity in the post-colonial context and gives understanding into the recurrence of the coups. The chapter first provides a short historical overview, the problem statement; followed by the research questions and study objectives, the research methodology and the structure of the study. Lesotho is a very small land- locked country consisting of a population of 2 203 821 (2018), spread across approximately 30 000 square kilometers. The country is surrounded by South Africa on which it depends economically and primarily for access to the outside world. The Kingdom of Lesotho is classified as a Constitutional Monarchy, wherein the Prime Minister is the head of the government and the King is the head of the state (Matlosa & Shale, 2006:3). The King shares power with a constitutionally structured government (Ibid, 2006). The elected parliament makes and passes legislation. As such, Lesotho embodies a governance regime that mixes contemporary democratic systems with traditional governance. As a former protectorate of Great Britain, Lesotho inherited the British Westminster model of government that embraces parliamentary democracy. The National Assembly is made up of 120 seats, in which 80 members are elected according to the constituency basis and the other 40 members by proportional representation (Matlosa, 2002). Until the 1998 general 11 elections, Lesotho used the constituency-based First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) electoral model, which was changed to the Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) in 2002 (Ibid, 2002). The first coup in Lesotho took place in 1970.