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Lesotho a Landlocked Territory Whose Status As a Nation Remains in Question

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Lesotho a Landlocked Territory Whose Status As a Nation Remains in Question PROFILE JULy 2011 With almost half of the population living in poverty, shacks are not uncommon – such as these, near Mohale dam. LESOTHO A landlocked territory whose status as a nation remains in question esotho’s shorT-TERM PROSPECTS look bleak, as systemic problems: a still unresolved heritage of colonial- declining credit ratings stampede Prime Minister Pa- ism that blocked development of a sustainable local econo- Lkalitha Mosisili’s government to slash its wage bill, my in favour, in Lesotho’s case, of predominant reliance on provoking growing dissatisfaction among young Basotho. a single export: unskilled labour for South Africa’s mines. With local and national elections in September and ear- Food production in a region once coveted as Southern ly 2012 to be contested under a new, more representative Africa’s breadbasket, never evolved into a competitive, system, and Mosisili facing challenges within his Lesotho commercial farming model, and is declining. Congress for Democracy (LCD), party politics remain tur- And with revenues from mine labour down by two- bulent. thirds, Lesotho has moved to growing dependence on a The immediate trigger for the current predicament non-renewable export to South Africa: water – currently is the drastic cut in Southern African Customs Union offsetting the Sacu losses with a healthy US$53-million (Sacu) revenue, a 23,4% loss of GDP. (R350-million) a month, but potentially drying out Leso- But Lesotho is battling with longer-term, structural and tho’s own supplies within a decade. Isolated islands of eco- 2 Southern Africa Report LESOTHO July 2011 nomic success – notably in the textile sector If the country continues to intervene in the market to rescue – are too small to create the capital base Leso- recovers from Lesotho in a manner that has seen it signally tho needs, and anyway face increasingly stiff its immediate fail to do so in the 50-plus years since inde- competition from Asian producers. pendence. If the country recovers from its immediate crisis, it will Lesotho’s civil service is indisputably crisis, it will simply move out of a short-term simply move out bloated and its wage bill excessive, but the crisis into the arms of a long-term, structural of a short-term real problem lies elsewhere. economic crisis. crisis into the With few exceptions, Lesotho’s fractured More than half the adult population has and factious political formations appear un- concluded there is no solution, and that Leso- arms of a long- able to explore serious alternatives. Main- tho should recognise that it cannot survive as term, structural stream political discourse lacks perspectives a sovereign state. economic crisis that address the problems and needs of the Lesotho’s downward trajectory began a population – or the fact that most of the elec- century ago, when its economically active torate believes Lesotho should continue to population was transformed into a labour operate as a sovereign state. Whenever policy pool for South Africa’s mines, turning it into is aired, it tends to focus on technical adjust- a parody of a nation state. ments and solutions that fall far short of tack- Independence in 1966 had little effect, al- ling the bigger picture of the country’s dys- though competition for what little power the function. central government exercised has triggered There is a growing body of opinion in Le- several military coups and an endlessly split- sotho that would like to see it merge with ting and merging of Lesotho’s body politic. South Africa to put an end to the colonial di- When the South African mining industry visions that separate the two countries. There started its long-term contraction and automa- are various possible approaches to this, begin- tion 20 years ago, the impact on Lesotho was ning with the use of common identity docu- devastating. The crisis continues and affects ments and dual citizenship for Basotho to al- not only mineworkers but all other Basotho low the free movement of people. Allowing who seek work in South Africa. Couple this free movement would undoubtedly instantly with Lesotho’s HIV-Aids infection rate – the benefit the many thousands of Basotho who world’s third highest, spurred by the predom- have to cross the border on limited permits to inantly migrant character of Basotho labour work in the Republic. – and the country’s long-term prospects look It would also open up big possibilities for doubly bleak. productive partnerships on growth and devel- Upbeat prognoses for Lesotho’s economic opment with South Africa that are impossi- development in the short- to medium-term ble under the current Balkanised nation-state and bullish forecasts for its ability to over- status of Lesotho. come deficits and debts reflect a stubborn in- Whatever the outcome to the present frigid sistence that formulas for economic growth border regime, it is clear that the future of the can work in a country with virtually no do- two countries is inextricably linked, if not the mestic capital, and that its tiny private sector same. u can somehow find the means to bankroll a vi- brant, sustainable economy. While South Africa – along with much of the developing and developed world – has recognised the need for a direct state role in directing economic development in the after- math of 2008’s market failure, the ruling LCD CONTENTS GEOGRAPHY: 3 HISTORY: 4 POLITICS: 6 ECONOMY: 11 CONTACTS: 15 BIBLIOGRAPHY: 17 July 2011 LESOTHO Southern Africa Report 3 Quote in here in GEOGRAPHY as many lines as are necessary Semi-arid kingdom in the clouds ESOTHO IS APTLY dubbed the “Moun- tain Kingdom”: with its border enclos- Ling a portion of the Drakensburg range that stretches across the south eastern param- eter of South Africa, it is the only independ- ent state lying entirety a kilometre above sea level. A second geographical feature that it shares with only two other countries (the Vat- ican and Andorra) is that it is an enclave, en- tirely surrounded by one other, South Africa. The remnants of an ancient volcano, Le- sotho’s Maluti mountains feature kimberlite pipes that are mined for some of the world’s biggest diamonds, with consistently high per- carat values. Both the size and the quality of the gems contribute to Lesotho diamonds en- joying the highest dollar value per carat (an av- erage of US$1 894 per carat compared to the world’s average of about US$81 per carat). Last One of the Little over 10% of the country is arable, with year two diamonds (one 184-carat and the oth- current pillars the most fertile lands located in the northern er 196-carat) discovered at the Letšeng mine of Lesotho’s and central lowlands, and the foothills of the were sold for US$22,7-million (R153,9-million). flimsy economy mountains. Soil erosion, over-farming and an Although far from being a water-rich coun- inadequate irrigation infrastructure are com- try, the two main rivers that flow across Le- is the sale of bining to put this limited resource under sig- sotho (the Orange and the Caledon) are, to- water and power nificant pressure – a particularly alarming fact, gether with the precipitation congruent with produced through given that 86% of its resident population de- u its high elevation, a vital source of export rev- hydroelectricity pend on subsistence farming for its survival. enue. One of the current pillars of Lesotho’s flimsy economy is the sale of water and power to South Africa produced through hydroelectricity to South – despite Topography Africa – despite the country struggling to the country 2 meet its domestic water needs. Known as the struggling to Total area: 30 355 km (ranked 140 out of Lesotho Highlands Water Programme, it is the 235 in the world) largest diversion of water in Africa. meet its domestic Total land borders: 909km (with South Africa) Rain and snow is far from consistent and water needs Highest point: 3 482m (Thabana Ntlenyana) the country is vulnerable to periodic droughts. Lowest point: 1 400m (confluence of the Lesotho’s water table is falling – 30% of natu- Orange and Makhaleng Rivers) ral wells and springs have dried up, and a fu- ture pattern of diminishing rainfall is antici- pated. Lesotho is projected to experience sig- nificant water stress as early as 2019 by the Political geography United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Lesotho comprises 10 administrative districts While the government is attempting to re- (each with its own capital - called a “camptown”) spond proactively to the anticipated threats to Berea Mohale’s Hoek its water supply, it is unclear that its efforts Butha-Buthe Mokhotlong are sufficient to prevent further stress to an Leribe Qacha's Nek already distressed agricultural sector while at Mafeteng Quthing the same time continuing to export water and Maseru Thaba-Tseka power to South Africa. 4 Southern Africa Report LESOTHO July 2011 Quote“The sun in here lost itsin HistORY aspower many when lines we as areburied necessary Moshoaila Boundaries [Moshoeshoe] ... The sky rumbled forged in a peculiar way, when we buried by survival the king. ESOTHO AND THE lowlands to the north With both hands and west were occupied by Bantu-speak- he had scooped Ling clans between 400 and 600 CE, dis- out peace for us. placing or absorbing the Khoisan forager-gath- erer communities settled there – part of the We buried him, Bantu Expansion southward from the Great Thesele Matlama, Lakes, which would ultimately spread to popu- the Great-Binder- late virtually the entire Southern Africa. Together, the By the middle of the last millennium clans in a region covering modern-day Lesotho, king of the rich much of the Eastern Free State and parts of and the poor.” KwaZulu-Natal spoke a unique Sesotho dialect and referred to themselves as Basotho.
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