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SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN LESOTHO Volume 3, Number 1 (First Quarter 1996) |
|
Summary of events in Lesotho is a quarterly publication compiled and published by David Ambrose since 1993 at the National University of Lesotho, P. O. Roma 180, Lesotho. |
|
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SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN LESOTHO Volume 3, Number 3 (Third Quarter 1996) |
|
Summary of events in Lesotho is a quarterly publication compiled and published by David Ambrose since 1993 at the National University of Lesotho, P. O. Roma 180, Lesotho. |
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Freedom of Movement between Lesotho and South Africa
Freedom
of
Movement
between
Lesotho
and
South
Africa
Freedom of Movement between Lesotho and South Africa The relative freedom with which Basotho had been able to visit and stay in South Africa seemed likely to be much reduced by South Africa’s announcement that with effect from 1 July, Basotho would need visas for any stay in South Africa in excess of 30 days, and even visits up to 30 days must be for business or holiday purposes. Similar restrictions were imposed at the same time on citizens of Botswana and Swaziland. Amongst those likely to be affected by the new requirement were the large numbers of Basotho studying in South Africa at universities and technikons, as well as many Basotho from Lesotho who spent long periods with South African relatives whether for educational purposes or for seeking employment, a common but technically illegal practice. The upper floors of the Lesotho Bank Tower in Maseru, where the South African High Commission is located, seemed likely in future to become a scene of considerable activity. One group of Lesotho workers in South Africa, long-term migrant workers who in terms of a previous announcement, would have the right to permanent residence, found that in fact they were not going to enjoy full benefits. According to the Mail & Guardian of 16 August, only permanent residents who had been receiving pension grants as at 1 March 1996 would continue to receive them. No new permanent residents would receive pensions, a serious matter for an estimated one million or more illegal immigrants to which South Africa was currently extending permanent resident status. A significant proportion of this one million was thought to be Basotho.
One
Mosotho
without
any
problems
about
his
residence
and
financial
status
was
Dr.
Timothy
Thahane.
He
was
now
Deputy
Governor
of
the
South
African
Reserve
Bank,
and
tipped
to
become
its
first
black
Governor.
An Act of Parliament was gazetted on 5 July 1996 (with presumably immediate effect, the date of implementation and/or Royal Assent being omitted) which was the First Amendment to the 1993 Constitution. Under this Act, four non-entrenched Sections (Sections which could be changed by a simple majority in Parliament) of the Constitution were replaced. These were four sections whose final form had been determined by the outgoing Military Government in 1993, rather than by the National Constituent Assembly. They were Sections 145, 146, 147 and 149 which dealt with the Defence Commission, the Defence Force, the Police Force and the Prison Service. As a result of the Amendment, the Defence Commission was replaced by provisions by which the King acting on the advice of the Prime Minister was given power to appoint or remove the Commander of the Defence Force, the Commissioner of Police and the Director of Prisons. The Prime Minister was also given the power to determine the operational use of the Defence Force. A new section was also added to the Constitution making provision for a Courts-Martial Appeal Court, presided over by two judges and a retired army officer with legal experience. The Amendment Act also made provision for future acts of Parliament to determine the procedures for the organisation, administration and discipline of, as well as appointment and removal of, members of the Defence Force, the Police Force and the Prison Service.
The
powers
of
appointment
to
and
removal
from
these
three
services
had
previously
been
exercised
by
the
Defence
Commission,
over
which
Government
had
had
only
limited
control:
although
its
Chairman
had
been
the
Prime
Minister,
the
other
six
members
had
been
the
Commander
and
Deputy
Commander
of
the
Defence
Force,
the
Commissioner
and
Assistant
Commissioner
of
Police,
and
the
Director
and
Deputy
Director
of
the
National
Security
Service.
It
was
only
the
Director
of
the
National
Security
Service
who
previously
had
been
appointed
by
the
Prime
Minister
in
terms
of
the
Constitution.
This
Director’s
powers
for
administering
and
disciplining
the
National
Security
Service
were
unchanged
by
the
Constitutional
Amendment. Court of Appeal Confirms Two 10 Year Sentences; One of those Convicted Dies in Hospital A sequel to the High Court decision earlier in the year that the former Accountant-General and Deputy Accountant-General were both guilty of fraud on a massive scale and should serve 10 years in gaol was confirmed by the Court of Appeal. However, the third convicted person, Moitšupeli Letsie, an Engineer in the Ministry of Home Affairs, was acquitted by the Court of Appeal.
The
former
Deputy
Accountant
General,
Pusetso
Makotoane,
aged
42,
was
admitted
to
hospital
in
Maseru
on
23
July.
According
to
Mopheme
of
20
August
when
his
condition
deteriorated,
doctors
had
recommended
his
transfer
to
Bloemfontein,
but
his
lawyer,
Hae
Phoofolo,
had
been
unable
to
get
the
necessary
documentation,
and
he
died
on
12
August.
Phoofolo
made
a
statement
to
the
press
complaining
that
prison
conditions,
and
especially
prison
food,
at
Maseru
Central
Gaol
were
in
contravention
of
the
Prisons
Proclamation.
Heaviest Snowfalls for Nine Years On the afternoon of Saturday 6th July, snow began to fall over much of northern and eastern Lesotho. It continued for some 60 hours, by which time it lay 50 cm deep throughout the northern Lowlands and up to a metre deep throughout much of Mokhotlong and Thaba-Tseka Districts and the northern part of Qacha’s Nek District. At Sehlabathebe, the snow was estimated at one and a half metres deep, and it was 43 cm deep in the town of Qacha’s Nek. Mokhotlong District remained completely cut off for six days until the route over Menoaneng Pass and through Thaba-Tseka and Katse was opened. It was over two months before it was announced on 9 September that the Oxbow route was again passable, and bus services to Mokhotlong could resume. Meanwhile, the route over Sani Top to KwaZulu-Natal had been reopened on Saturday 10 August, but for quite a while afterwards four-wheel drive vehicles were having to be assisted by tracked vehicles over the highest parts, where snow remained piled a metre deep on each side of the road, a situation hardly any better than the section across the Sani Flats which was deep in mud. Sani Pass itself had become severely damaged so that high clearance was needed over rocks in the road. This was the worst snow disaster to hit Mokhotlong since the great snow of 21-22 September 1987. As on that occasion many herd boys cut off at points distant from their homes died in the snow. Moreover large numbers of animals died. In 1987 Sani Pass had been closed for 23 days (the snow although deeper had then melted faster because it had fallen in September), as opposed to 33 days on this occasion. The 1996 closure of the pass was the longest since 1959, when Sani Pass had been closed for three months.
During
the
great
snow
of
1996,
helicopters
played
a
major
role
in
rescuing
people
from
stranded
vehicles,
including
a
bus
load
of
people
stranded
at
Mahlasela
between
Letšeng-la-Terae
and
Oxbow.
Herd
boys
were
not
so
easily
located,
and
many
died
with
their
animals.
Cloudy
weather
prevailed
until
Wednesday
10th
July,
when
helicopters
were
able
to
search
for
missing
people
more
easily.
By
an
oversight,
no
helicopter
searched
the
route
over
Kotisephola
Pass
from
Mokhotlong
to
Sani
Top.
Eventually,
a
party
which
included
two
Professors
from
the
University
of
the
Witwatersrand
was
reported
missing,
and
was
finally
found
by
a
South
African
Defence
Helicopter
on
Monday
15th
July.
The
four
people
in
the
vehicle
had
spent
eight
nights
snowbound
at
an
altitude
of
approximately
3000
metres,
just
short
of
the
summit
of
Kotisephola
Pass.
They
were
fortunate
to
have
had
enough
fuel
to
have
been
able
to
run
the
vehicle
engine
from
time
to
time
to
keep
warm.
As
a
result
they
were
rescued
virtually
unharmed,
a
rescue
which
received
considerable
media
treatment
on
television
and
as
headline
treatment
(complete
with
some
dramatic
colour
photographs
of
helicopter
and
vehicle
almost
buried
in
the
snow)
in
the
South
African
press.
1995-6 an Excellent Growing Season In July, estimates of the crop yield for 1995-6 were published in the Food Security Bulletin, a quarterly publication of the Lesotho National Early Warning Division of the Disaster Management Authority. Rainfall for the six summer months had been consistently above average (figures at Roma for example showed that it had been the third wettest summer in sixty years; moreover all six summer months had recorded above average rainfall, something which had last occurred as long ago as 1936-7). The published estimates for maize production for 1995-6 were 199 000 tons, compared with estimates of actual production of only 48 700 in 1994-5, 175 000 in 1993-4 and 92 000 in 1992-3, showing a pattern of alternating very wet and very dry summers over a period of four years. (Roma summer rainfall has a mean of 651 mm; actual summer (October to March) rainfalls were 536 mm in 1992-3; 1020 mm in 1993-4; 452 mm in 1994-5; and 961 mm in 1995-6). Despite the good maize production for 1996, Lesotho was nowhere near to self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs. The country had been a net importer of maize since the 1920s, a time when the population was a quarter of its present size. Historically, maize production had been higher than the estimated 199 000 tons of 1996 (it had been 214 000 tons in 1950 after the relatively wet summer of 1949-50, for example). Over the century there had been a general decline in average production as soils had become exhausted, and actual land area had been lost to erosion and urbanisation.
With
unusually
heavy
precipitation
over
Lesotho
during
the
1996
winter,
prospects
for
winter
wheat
were
said
to
be
good,
even
though
(unlike
in
the
neighbouring
areas
of
the
Free
State)
it
was
a
crop
that
relatively
few
farmers
had
planted.
Summer
wheat
(which
can
only
be
grown
in
the
Maloti)
had
in
1996
yielded
the
best
crop
for
many
years.
Maseru Traffic Jams a Challenge for the New City Council By mid-July, the impact of the forthcoming Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State Meeting was beginning to be felt. Maseru’s main street, Kingsway, which had not had a new coat of tar for more than a decade, and was a patchwork of repairs, was reduced to half width while retarring began. This resulted in long traffic jams, not only in the morning, lunchtime and evening rush hours, but also throughout the day. A number of people recalled that the planned relief road parallel to Kingsway had been a part of the various Maseru Development Plans for some twenty years, but still had not been constructed. Moreover, the physical planners had not managed to protect its alignment from encroachment. Since the alignment had been first established, a new African Methodist Episcopal Church had been built across it, and extensions of the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital had also encroached on the alignment. The likelihood that the already serious traffic congestion in central Maseru would worsen was apparent in that further high rise office buildings were being added to Kingsway. The four eight storey blocks of Development House on the old Maseru Cafe site had been completed only a few months earlier, and these were being augmented by a large office block of similar dimensions on the old Frasers Retail site. This was to house a new Post Office and postal department offices on the ground and first floors, with offices for rent on higher floors. The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority which, after the Government, is the biggest user of office space in Maseru, was also planning a large new building farther to the west on Kingsway, across the road from the Golf Course. Meanwhile two tower cranes showed that the project to provide Maseru with a tower block for the offices of the United Nations and its specialised agencies was well advanced on Lagden Road (since 1995 renamed United Nations Road) opposite the Maseru Club. These developments all seemed to be going ahead without consideration of the need for roads to service them. The planned new Maseru by-pass from Masianokeng to the Railway Station to provide a route for transportation to Phase 1B of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project would only provide a palliative. There was a parallel need for roads to service the high density office developments of the city centre. All new buildings were planned with internal car parking space: it was just that there were insufficient roads to get the cars to and from this space. However, many people were predicting that Maseru was on the verge of having a massive excess of available office space. If this were so, the traffic build-up might not be quite as fast as the rate of construction of new buildings. Congestion was also being felt at the east end of town, where the temporary ’Manthabiseng ‘Bus Stop’ (Bus Station) had been created after the riots of 1991. Although a new bus rank was being built adjoining the Pitso Ground commercial area, the site was limited in size, and the provision for informal sector traders and for buses and taxis was so modest that it was likely to become immediately inadequate. To compound the misery of transport users and transport providers was the fact that they were forced to vacate the ’Manthabiseng Bus Stop before the new bus rank was ready so that a new National Convention Centre could be constructed on the ’Manthabiseng site. This had resulted in a new ‘Bus Stop’ (some were calling it ‘Nthabiseng’, in Sesotho, the daughter of ’Manthabiseng) appearing on the east side of the cleared area, while informal sector traders, buses and taxis had also moved to the Market Area, resulting in an unprecedented level of congestion, where both roads and pavements were largely blocked throughout the day.
All
these
were
matters
for
the
City
Council,
but
in
fact
there
had
been
no
City
Council
since
the
previous
Council
had
been
suspended
from
office
because
of
irregularities
in
1995,
not
the
first
time
that
this
had
happened
to
the
Council.
This
track
record
must
have
contributed
to
general
apathy
about
the
ability
of
the
Maseru
City
Council
to
solve
pressing
problems.
Even
though
the
Maseru
Municipal
Area
now
has
a
population
in
excess
of
150
000,
only
16
970
people
registered
to
vote,
and
out
of
these
only
6
270
actually
cast
their
votes
at
the
election
on
8
June.
Inauguration
of
the
new
Council
was
deferred
because
it
was
decided
that
the
new
Councillors
should
undergo
an
induction
course
before
assuming
office,
a
matter
which
caused
some
tension
between
councillors
and
the
Interim
Town
Clerk,
Mr.
Makalo
Ntlaloe.
On
3
July
1996,
the
newly-elected
19-member
(16
elected
members
+
3
Principal
Chiefs
ex
officio)
City
Council
was
finally
inaugurated,
with
Mr.
Thabiso
Molikeng
as
the
new
Mayor,
while
at
the
same
time
new
Management,
Works,
Planning,
Health,
Parks
&
Recreation
and
Standing
Consultative
Committees
were
also
elected
from
the
new
Council.
Only
two
of
the
elected
members
of
the
new
Council
were
women.
In
his
inaugural
speech
as
the
fourth
Mayor
of
Maseru,
Mr.
Molikeng,
as
quoted
by
The
Mirror
(10
July
1996),
acknowledged
that
it
was
going
to
be
a
tough
job
to
improve
the
image
of
Maseru.
Football
has
been
de
facto
Lesotho’s
national
sport
for
a
long
time.
It
was
apparently
first
played
between
defending
Cape
troops
and
‘Loyal’
(Mateketoa)
Basotho
defending
the
besieged
town
of
Hlotse
during
the
Gun
War
of
1880.
Over
a
century
later,
passions
often
run
high,
and
violence
has
unfortunately
been
not
unusual,
even
in
matches
between
rival
High
Schools.
The
twelve
best
known
football
teams
play
in
the
B.
P.
Premier
League,
and
on
Saturday
13
July
a
league
match
between
Arsenal
and
Swallows
unfortunately
led
to
a
tragic
incident.
After
violence
on
the
field,
an
Arsenal
supporter
allegedly
opened
fire
at
Swallows
supporters,
hitting
three
of
them,
two
of
whom
died.
According
to
reports
in
Mopheme
(16
July
1996)
and
The
Mirror
(17
July
1996),
the
gunman
was
Seeiso
’Neko
of
Maseru
East
who
fled
from
the
Stadium
pursued
by
Swallows
supporters
who
stoned
him
near
the
Mazenod
taxi
rank.
He
was
rescued
by
the
police,
and
admitted
to
Queen
Elizabeth
II
Hospital,
where
angry
Swallows
supporters
gathered
outside
saying
that
they
wanted
to
see
him
dead.
Other
rather
happier
sports
news
concerned
the
Olympic
Games.
Lesotho’s
team
was,
however,
a
modest
one.
For
administrative
reasons
relating
to
problems
of
finance
for
the
journey,
they
left
later
for
the
Games
than
had
been
intended,
and
had
only
a
short
pre-departure
training
camp.
According
to
Mopheme
(9
July
1996),
in
athletics
there
had
been
only
one
local
runner
who
had
met
the
Olympic
qualifying
standard,
and
he
competed
in
the
marathon.
The
only
other
athletics
events
that
Lesotho
could
enter
were
those
without
a
qualifying
standard,
the
4
x
400
m
relays,
for
each
of
which
Lesotho
sent
a
men’s
and
a
women’s
team.
The
nine
athletes
were
accompanied
by
a
team
of
five
officials.
The
marathon
runner,
Thabiso
Ralekhetla,
fared
best
being
placed
29th
out
of
a
total
of
129
competitors
in
the
marathon.
On
11
July
two
more
Judges
were
added
to
the
Lesotho
Judiciary,
when
three
Acting
Justices
were
confirmed
as
permanent
members.
The
three
new
judges
were
Justice
Mathealira
Ramodibeli;
Justice
Kelello
Guni,
the
first
Mosotho
woman
judge;
and
Justice
Ntšabeng
Mofolo,
the
judge
hearing
the
case
concerning
the
legality
of
decisions
at
the
BCP
Annual
Conference.
This
brought
the
number
of
judges
to
eight,
a
massive
increase
since
the
time
of
Independence
when
the
judiciary
had
consisted
of
a
Chief
Justice
and
a
Puisne
Judge.
Many
people
hoped
that
the
augmented
judiciary
would
result
in
a
faster
hearing
of
cases,
many
of
which
only
come
up
for
hearing
in
the
High
Court
many
years
after
the
alleged
offences
have
been
committed.
A
contributory
factor
to
the
delay
in
court
hearings
was
undoubtedly
the
large
numbers
of
commissions
of
inquiry
which
judges
were
asked
to
conduct.
Faster
court
proceedings
would
depend
also
on
the
numbers
of
such
commissions
of
inquiry
being
kept
to
a
minimum.
Political Uncertainty and the Prime Minister’s Illness The uncertain political situation in Lesotho continued to be a matter of widespread discussion. The marathon court case about the legality of the Annual Conference proceedings continued almost daily, leaving a very uncertain situation in the ruling Basutoland Congress Party, whose outgoing Executive Committee was still regarded by the court as the legal one, even though it did not enjoy support from the party leader. De facto there were by now two political parties, the Majelathoko faction of the party who supported Shakhane Mokhehle and who now dominated the Cabinet, and the Maporesha faction who supported the six Cabinet ministers who had either been dismissed or had resigned, and whom the Prime Minister had asked everyone to subject to ostracism. That this was not actually happening seemed apparent from newspaper reports. For example on Sunday 16 June the six former cabinet ministers held a pitso (reported by some to be a pitso called by the Executive of the Party) at Maputsoe, which (Mopheme, 18 June 1996) was said to have been attended by thousands. Amongst those who addressed the gathering and showed apparent loyalty to the Molapo Qhobela faction were members of the former Lesotho Liberation Army. Mokhehle himself was compared by former minister Tšeliso Makhakhe to Dr. Kamuzu Banda, who was said to have thrown those who disagreed with him to the crocodiles in the river. Former Minister Ntsukunyane Mphanya said that the Government ‘is not under the control of BCP, but a certain clique of friends’. The rift in the party appeared to be mainly about personalities rather than policies, but Makatolle (the paper supporting the Majelathoko faction) in its 26 June issue asked its readers whether their MPs were still supporting those who had voted for them. It published details of what had happened in Parliament when a vote was taken on a procedural point relating to the Amnesty Bill. 22 members of the BCP had voted for it, and 20 members had opposed it, the published names of those voting against being those usually associated with the Maporesha or Pressure Group faction. The one Independent MP, Bofihla Nkuebe, had voted with the Maporesha, so that the Bill had been passed by a single vote. The Prime Minister held a pitso at Mohale’s Hoek on the same day, but was so weak that he was unable to complete his speech, which was then read by the Deputy Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili. A pitso planned for the Prime Minister at Hlotse on 7 July was cancelled, and it was learned that the Prime Minister had been admitted the previous day to the Hydromed Hospital in Bloemfontein. Government media described his illness as influenza, but South African media reported that he was likely to be undergoing treatment for a heart condition for which he had had previous treatment. Speculation about the Prime Minister’s condition became rife when no hard facts could be gained. Makatolle considered that he would be returning in due course after treatment, while Moafrika reported that he was critically ill. A group of people who went to Bloemfontein on 14 July, including three former cabinet ministers and the editor of Moafrika, Candi Ramainoane, were refused permission by doctors and security guards to see him, on instructions from the Prime Minister’s adviser Meshu Mokitimi. In fact those who gained access seem only to have been medical personnel; members of the Prime Minister’s immediate family; the Queen Mother, Queen ’Mamohato; and Bishop Mokuku of the Anglican Church, who administered the sacrament of anointing of the sick. The next issue of Moafrika was scathing about the way that access to the Prime Minister was so guarded that even members of the Party Executive could not meet the Prime Minister. It ran the headline TK o hlometsoe lehlaka o bonoa ke lelapa feela, ‘the Prime Minister has had a reed inserted over his doorway and is only seen by members of his family’, this being a reference to the Sesotho custom of placing reeds over the doorway where a mother has given birth, showing that only family members were now permitted to enter. It seems that the Cabinet was incensed over the disrespect being shown to the Prime Minister and on 23 July 1996 decided that in future government and parastatal advertising should no longer be placed in Moafrika. A further sequel was that on 18 September, the editor of Moafrika, Candi Ramainoane, was asked to appear before a meeting of the Parliamentary Privileges Committee to explain his newspaper’s reporting of the Prime Minister’s illness. Meanwhile, the Deputy Leader of the Party, Molapo Qhobela, incensed that members of the party executive had been denied access to the Prime Minister, gave an interview on Sesotho Stereo (the Bloemfontein-based South African broadcasting station that had formerly been Radio Sesotho), knowing that Radio Lesotho would not give him a hearing as a member of the Pressure Group of the Party. He was however diplomatic in his remarks and made light of divisions in the party saying that such differences in opinion were healthy for any party. One such division occurred on Friday 26 July, when a group of Pressure Group MPs walked out of Parliament in protest over the appointment of a new Deputy Speaker for Parliament. It was made clear that the protest was not over the person in question, but rather over the fact that the appointment procedure had ignored procedures set out in the BCP Constitution, which required an open party caucus consultation. Apparently, according to Mopheme of 30 July, such a caucus had been held at some undisclosed place ‘where only those who are liked by the Big Brother are invited’. The new Deputy Speaker was Ms. Alice Ntlohi Motsamai, a career educationalist, and her appointment had been necessitated by the appointment of the former Deputy Speaker, Rev. Ben Masilo, to become the new Lesotho High Commissioner in London. In relation to the Prime Minister’s illness, Moafrika in its issue of 12 July had meanwhile speculated on what might happen in relation to the succession to Ntsu Mokhehle. In terms of the Constitution, it would be the Deputy Leader of the party, Molapo Qhobela, who should succeed, but the Majelathoko plan would obviously be that the Deputy Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili should succeed. Meanwhile Shakhane Mokhehle the Prime Minister’s younger brother, now the Minister of Natural Resources had actually been appointed by the King, by Government Gazette of 6 July to be Acting Prime Minister. He gave an interview with Veronique Edwards of the BBC on 15 July, and stated that the Prime Minister ‘had flu at the time and then apparently it developed into a stroke ... something ... and then he was cold, so we decided to take him to Bloemfontein’. A later report in Makatolle of 7 August made rather vague allegations that the problem was that the Prime Minister had not been properly treated medically in Lesotho and had received an overdose of some drug. The situation caused people to look carefully at the Constitution. Under §90, if the Prime Minister is incapacitated by illness, the Deputy Prime Minister exercises his functions, and in his absence any Minister that the King authorises. The King must act in this matter with the advice of the Prime Minister, but if it is impracticable to obtain this, with the advice of the Cabinet. However, under §87, the appointment to the actual office of Prime Minister requires the King to act on the advice of the Council of State, this person ‘to be the Member of the National Assembly who appears to the Council of State to be the leader of the political party or coalition of political parties that will command the support of the majority of the members of the National Assembly’. Such a person may with the advice of the Council of State be removed from office if he does not resign within three days of losing a no confidence motion. Speculation therefore began to grow as to whom the Council of State would favour in the case of a vacancy in the Prime Ministership. Its current 11 members are, in terms of the Constitution, from a wide range of senior positions, and include, apart from the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the National Assembly [Dr. J. T. Kolane], two judges [Justices Kheola and Molai], the Attorney-General [Mr. Fine Maema], the Commander of the Defence Force, the Commissioner of Police, a Principal Chief nominated by the College of Chiefs [Chief Mathealira Seeiso], representatives of opposition parties [no appointees, because there is no Opposition Party in the National Assembly], up to three persons with special expertise, skill or experience [Rev. G. Sibolla, Mr. B. M. Khaketla], and a member of the legal profession [Advocate Thabo Makeka].
The
Prime
Minister
was
eventually
discharged
from
hospital
on
Sunday
28
July,
but
was
thereafter
under
doctor’s
orders
to
rest,
and
took
no
part
in
the
SADC
Meeting
in
August.
He
resumed
duties
only
with
effect
from
Monday
2
September.
A new facility became available in Lesotho in mid-1996. Telephone cards were sold by the Lesotho Telecommunications Corporation (LTC), and could be used at a limited number of new telephones installed in Central Maseru. The joy of the public in acquiring better telephone services, was however soon interrupted. Over 400 workers of LTC went on strike with effect from Monday 22 July, and presented a petition to the Ministry of Transport, Posts and Telecommunications the same day. A list of long-standing grievances were set out by Mopheme of 30 July, and these included poor salaries for workers when directors were paid at extravagant rates including untaxable allowances; secrecy over an agreement with the new cellular telephone firm VODACOM which appeared to be receiving LTC services without paying LTC appropriate charges; rampant theft within LTC which was insufficiently investigated; and the unnecessary hiring of apartments for staff when other apartments which had been built were not being used. Although the strike at first did not affect automatic telephone services, by the end of the week these were gradually withdrawn, and by the weekend Lesotho was effectively cut off from the rest of the world. Banks, for example, had to send vehicles to Ladybrand daily to obtain foreign exchange rates before they could conduct foreign exchange business. Ladybrand in fact experienced an unprecedented invasion with Lesotho cars parked along the blocks adjoining the post office, and persons queueing up to 10 deep outside kiosks. South African telephone cards were soon sold out and there was a run on coins for those telephones with coin-operated facilities.
The
strike
ended
on
Thursday
1
August,
when
it
was
agreed
that
LTC
grievances
would
be
investigated
by
the
Ministry
in
depth.
Subsequently
senior
staff
of
LTC
were
suspended
pending
a
financial
investigation
into
the
affairs
of
the
Corporation.
However,
by
the
end
of
September,
it
was
clear
that
workers
were
not
satisfied
by
progress
on
investigations,
and
it
seemed
that
a
further
strike
was
a
possibility.
Most newspapers in Lesotho are based in Maseru, and none at all in the other nine districts. As a result news from outside the capital is usually reported in less detail, and often not reported at all. The Government Department of Information through Lesotho News Agency (LENA) reporters does record some district news, but often much more can be found in the police newspaper (sold twice-monthly on the streets to the public), Leseli ka Sepolesa. This newspaper’s front page headlines, unfortunately, present an almost unrelieved picture of criminal activity, most of it apparently unsolved. Examples of front-page headlines from mid-1996 include Mosuoe-hloho o’a bolaoa sekolong sa mathomo sa Morobong (‘Head-teacher of Morobong Primary School killed’, about the unsolved shooting of a Lesotho Evangelical Church Headmistress), Leseli ka Sepolesa, 26 March 1996; Matichere a khakhatheloa chelete (‘Teachers are tortured about money’, about two teachers at Mapholaneng LEC High School, who were seriously assaulted by a group of men said to be acting on behalf of the school board which was investigating money which had disappeared; the teachers were bound hand and foot, had their faces covered with plastic bags until they passed out and were also burned on the soles of their feet), Leseli ka Sepolesa, 23 April & 14 May 1996; Mohoebi oa Lenyesemane o bolailoe Mpharane (‘English trader shot at Mpharane’ about an unsolved grenade and gun attack at night which killed 38-year old Anthony Scott, of a trading family long established in Lesotho), Leseli ka Sepolesa, 14 May 1996; Monna o seoa litho tsa botona Quthing (‘Man castrated in Quthing’, about a 24-year old man from the Sebapala Valley who had been assaulted after suspicion that he had stolen 16 sheep), Leseli ka Sepolesa, 11 June 1996; Likebekoa li thunya basali (‘Hoodlums kill women’, about a robbery on a shop at Qomoqomong in which a woman was shot dead and two others injured; later reports say the police knew one of the attackers to be a member of the Lesotho Defence Force), Leseli ka Sepolesa, 25 June, 9 & 23 July 1996); Setopo se isoa ’Moshareng ka kiribae (‘Corpse delivered to mortuary in a wheelbarrow’, about a man who after a quarrel, wheelbarrowed a woman’s corpse to the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital Mortuary and abandoned it there), Leseli ka Sepolesa, 9 July 1996; and Liretlo Ha Ramabanta (‘Medicine murder at Ramabanta’, in which a man’s corpse had been found with parts of the body removed for medicinal purposes), Leseli ka Sepolesa, 23 July 1996. In almost all these cases of serious crime, the newspaper reported that lipatlisiso tsa sepolesa li ntse li tsoelapele (‘police investigations are continuing’). However, very few reports of subsequent court cases and convictions seem to be being reported by the press. A series of incidents occurred at the large village of Mokema not far from Roma during August, in which it seems at least 14 persons died. A businesswoman ’Manthabiseng Mohlerepe was shot dead at her business premises on 4 August, and a week later on 11 August, five people were shot dead at the home of a businessman, Mr. Mositha Sante, including his wife, a daughter and a sister. One of his houses was burnt down. On 15 August there was another attack on Mr. Sante and he was himself killed. According to Lesotho Today of 22 August, police then went out to investigate, were shot at and seven people were then killed and ‘no arrests have yet been made’. More detail was provided in a report in Mopheme of 20 August. The shootings were attributed to a fight between two families whose wives were closely related and had originally come from the village of Pae-la-itlhatsoa at Roma. The fighting had escalated after exchanges of insults between children of the two families.
A
new
newspaper
appeared
in
Maseru
in
July,
Lesotho
Business
Weekly,
although
from
the
beginning
it
appeared
neither
weekly,
nor
confined
its
news
to
business.
By
its
second
issue
of
25
July,
it
was
carrying
stories
in
Sesotho,
which
reflected
a
different
side
of
police
activity
from
that
in
Leseli
ka
Sepolesa.
According
to
the
newspaper
citing
incidents
which
had
recently
taken
place
at
the
Mapoteng
and
Roma
Police
Stations,
police
were
subjecting
arrested
suspects
to
cruel
and
degrading
punishment.
This
involved
severe
torture
and
suffocation,
and
when
suspects
soiled
themselves
they
were
forced
to
consume
their
own
faeces.
The
newspaper
Mafube
of
26
July
carried
the
same
stories
with
a
critical
comment
asking
why
the
Lesotho
Constitution
was
not
protecting
the
people
from
such
wretched
happenings.
Amongst facilities in Lesotho which had benefited the Southern African region was the BBC Relay Station at Lancers’ Gap on the eastern fringe of Maseru. It had been set up at a time when South Africa would not have been willing to host such a facility. Indeed, listeners recalled many occasions when the BBC was the best source of information about current events in the region. One such was during the Soweto Uprising of June 1976, when the BBC’s own black reporter could give an eye-witness account from the ground of what was happening. The SABC at the time employed only white reporters, for whom Soweto had become a no-go area, and who as a result could do no more than report from helicopters flying overhead.
The
BBC
was
now
welcome
to
have
relay
stations
in
South
Africa,
and
it
was
announced
that
with
effect
from
September,
the
Relay
Station
in
Maseru
would
be
closed.
World Wide Web Reaches Lesotho
Lesotho
became
linked
to
the
internet
early
in
August,
although
for
the
time
being
the
service
was
limited
to
Maseru
(Roma
for
example
was
awaiting
installation
of
the
necessary
optical
fibre
cable).
Lesotho
Office
Equipment
as
the
satellite
service
provider
publicised
its
new
service
at
a
reception
at
the
Maseru
Sun
Hotel.
Katse Reservoir Reaches Minimum Operating Level The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority newsletter Water Waves announced that on 9 August 1996, the Katse Reservoir had reached its minimum operating level of 1989m above sea level. This meant that there was now sufficient depth of water above the tunnel soffit to prevent entrance of air, vortex formation and other features which might be undesirable for satisfactory tunnel operation.
Shortly
afterwards,
the
reservoir
level
reached
1993
metres,
the
level
at
which
royalties
became
payable
to
Lesotho
in
terms
of
the
1986
Treaty.
As
a
result
the
first
Highlands
Water
project
royalties
were
to
begin
accruing
to
Lesotho
as
from
the
end
of
October
1996.
Death of Principal Chief of Ha ’Mamathe in Road Accident
The
Principal
Chief
of
Ha
’Mamathe,
David
Gabashane
Masupha
died
in
hospital
after
an
accident
on
the
evening
of
Saturday
10
August.
David
Masupha
was
a
great-great
grandson
of
Chief
Masupha,
one
of
the
best
known
and
most
independent
sons
of
King
Moshoeshoe.
His
father,
Gabashane
Masupha,
had
been
hanged
by
the
British
Colonial
Administration
in
1948
for
medicine
murder,
when
he
was
still
a
child,
and
his
mother
Chieftainess
’Mamathe
had
acted
for
a
long
time
as
Principal
Chief
until
he
had
been
able
to
assume
office.
Maseru was host to the largest number of Heads of State in its history when it hosted the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit Meeting, on Saturday 24 August. A meeting of the SADC Council of Ministers was held earlier in the same week. All 12 SADC states were represented by their heads of state or prime ministers, including President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, King Mswati III of Swaziland, Sir Ketumile Masire of Botswana, President Sam Nujoma of Namibia, President Eduardo Dos Santos of Angola, President Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, the newly remarried President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, President Frederick Chiluba of Malawi, President Bakili Muluzi of Malawi, President Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, and Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam of Mauritius. During the Summit, President Nelson Mandela of South Africa took over as SADC Chairman from Sir Ketumile Masire of Botswana, who had served for the previous three years. The main road from Maseru through Mazenod to the Airport was closed for security reasons for most of the day on the Friday before and the Sunday after the Meeting, leading to considerable dislocation of local traffic. Traffic from Roma wishing to go to Maseru, for example, was told to take the route through Thaba-Bosiu, Sefikeng and Lancers’ Gap, more than doubling the total distance. Four Protocols were signed during the meeting on combatting illegal drug trafficking; on trade; on energy; and on transport, communications and meteorology. A Protocol which had been planned to allow free movement of persons within the SADC region was withdrawn before the summit. The Trade Protocol provided for the liberalisation of regional trade with a view to the eventual establishment of a free trade area.
The
Heads
of
State
were
hosted
by
King
Letsie
III
at
a
State
Banquet
on
Friday
23
August.
According
to
Mopheme
of
27
August,
the
King
provided
some
light
relief
by
referring
to
his
plight
as
a
bachelor
at
the
age
of
33.
He
must
have
been
conscious
that
at
the
same
banquet,
King
Mswati
was
accompanied
by
his
sixth
wife.
The
outgoing
SADC
Chairman
Sir
Ketumile
Masire
promised
that
if
the
King
gave
a
specific
order
for
a
wife
to
be
found,
the
SADC
states
would
respond.
Following
the
Privatisation
Act
1995,
a
Privatisation
Unit
had
been
set
up.
By
notice
in
the
Lesotho
Government
Gazette
of
19
August
1996,
it
indicated
its
intentions.
The
Lesotho
Government
was
intending
to
sell
its
holdings
in
retailing,
banking,
manufacturing
and
travel-related
ventures.
Amongst
enterprises
scheduled
for
privatisation
were
Lesotho
Airways
Corporation,
now
down
to
just
three
aircraft.
The
Lesotho
National
Development
Corporation
was
also
going
to
sell
through
a
new
single
holding
company
its
50%
share
in
Smart
Centre,
its
50%
share
in
OK
Bazaars,
and
its
20%
share
in
Cashbuild.
Government-owned
enterprises
earmarked
for
privatisation
included
Loti
Brick,
the
Lesotho
Pharmaceutical
Corporation,
the
Lesotho
Bank
Mortgage
Division,
the
Government
Garage,
and
Lesotho
Flour
Mills.
News
from
Lesotho
Flour
Mills
in
late
August
was
not
very
encouraging.
The
Manager
and
four
senior
employees
had
been
arrested.
They
appeared
before
the
Maseru
magistrate
on
27
August
on
a
M8
million
fraud
charge,
and
were
released
on
bail.
Changes in Consulates and Embassies
Changing
political
realities
were
the
subject
of
a
speech
by
the
Minister
of
Foreign
Affairs,
Mr.
Kelebone
Maope,
in
Parliament
early
in
September.
Canada
had
withdrawn
its
High
Commission
from
Maseru,
as
well
as
much
of
its
aid
to
Lesotho.
Lesotho
would
in
turn
close
its
High
Commission
in
Ottawa
in
December
1996.
On
the
other
hand,
Lesotho
interests
in
South
Africa
were
to
be
served
by
new
consulates
in
Cape
Town
and
Durban,
while
the
labour
offices
on
Johannesburg,
Klerksdorp
and
Welkom
were
also
scheduled
to
be
upgraded
to
the
status
of
consulates.
Morija Museum Celebrates 40 Years In the absence of a National Museum, the Morija Museum, situated in Lesotho’s oldest town, is the only museum in Lesotho. On 6 September it celebrated the 40th anniversary of its founding with a traditional feast, for which many local chiefs had contributed animals, while other supporters had contributed in other ways. A programme of speeches, dances and songs held in the open air below the museum had two highlights: the symbolic opening of the new Phase I museum building by His Majesty King Letsie III; and the presentation of awards to three dedicated supporters of the museum over the 40 year period: Albert Brutsch, Kemuel Ntšihlele, and A. B. Thoahlane. The two principal founders of the museum, the brothers François and Paul Ellenberger were remembered at the occasion. François Ellenberger was too old and frail to travel outside France. Paul Ellenberger had unfortunately had to have an emergency eye operation shortly before the occasion, and unfortunately had also not been able to be there, although it was hoped that he might be able to visit Lesotho later.
The
whole
of
Morija
seems
to
have
collaborated
in
feeding
the
multitude
at
the
occasion.
Food
was
efficiently
provided
at
three
different
venues
for
some
3
000
persons
who
attended,
this
number
including
some
2
000
schoolchildren.
Police Action Resulting from Lesotho Highlands Strike Leads to Deaths Discontent amongst employees of Lesotho Highlands Project Contractors (LHPC) and ’Muela Hydro Power Contractors (MHPC) in Butha-Buthe had resulted in a number of strikes since early 1996. These strikes were by workers who were accommodated in Butha-Buthe, and were taken by bus daily to the ’Muela construction site, and also by workers on the tunnelling contract at Lejone. (The Katse dam site with a different construction consortium, Highlands Water Venture, was not affected.) The strikers had a number of grievances, but a major one was their belief that South African employees were paid more than they were. Matters came to a head in the second week in September when the contractors dismissed the whole of the Butha-Buthe and Lejone workforces consisting of some 2300 men. When the workers refused to vacate their hostels in the new Butha-Buthe suburb of Likileng, police were called in to remove them in terms of a High Court order. Accounts of what happened on Saturday 14th September were different in different newspapers. However, there was a common core of agreed events to the effect that the workers were given an ultimatum by the police to leave the hostels by 4 p. m. However, they remained in their hostels behind locked gates. At 4 p. m., the police gained entrance to the hostel compound by cutting down part of the fence, after which they fired tear gas into the hostels. As the men then fled in disarray, a number of them were shot dead by the police and others were injured. Other precise details of what happened were difficult to come by, and even the numbers of those killed and injured were difficult to ascertain, with some newspapers alleging that the police had disposed of bodies to reduce the apparent casualty toll. Estimates of the number killed ranged from 4 (Leseli ka Sepolesa, 24 September 1996) to 14 (Mopheme, 17 September 1996), and of those seriously injured from 14 (Leseli ka Sepolesa, 24 September 1996) to 24 (Moafrika, 20 September 1996). The Catholic newspaper, Moeletsi oa Basotho and the Basotho National Party newspaper, Mohlanka, both carried headlines stating that the police had slaughtered workers. Moafrika (20 September 1996) under a headline ’Muso oa mali (‘Government of blood’) stated that when the ‘workers had been teargassed, some began to run from the hostel, and were then shot like rock rabbits’. It also quoted an English employee who said he had never seen police behave in such a way. ‘If such a thing had happened in England, the Prime Minister would have had to resign, the Chief of Police would have been arrested, and there would have been a Commission of Inquiry.’Moafrika however also quoted a Zimbabwean-born member of the management who stated that he condoned the police action in the face of an intimidating work force. The Government newspaper, Lesotho Today, reported ‘at least 5 people were killed and 15 injured’ and said that the Contractors were unable to provide exact figures because police would not allow them to visit the Butha-Buthe hospital. The police newspaper, Leseli ka Sepolesa (24 September 1996), under a headline Ha ho motho ea ka holimo ho molao (‘No person is above the law’) (which some people felt could be interpreted against the police rather than as against the workers) referred to what had happened as a battle (ntoa). It stated that the police had been fired on, and after they had cleared the hostel, they had found two guns, 32 detonators, 5 petrol bombs and some knives and sticks. If there had indeed been a battle, it would seem to have been a very one-sided one, because apparently no police were injured. The consequences of the event were many. The hopes of the companies of the two consortia of contractors for a rapid resumption of work were completely dashed, and it was said that the standstill on the ’Muela Dam, on the hydropower plant, and on the tunnel lining work was costing over M1 million per day. Following the police action, the workers became refugees in considerable distress because they had been forced to leave without their possessions. Many hundreds of the workers took refuge in St. Paul’s Catholic Mission on the outskirts of Butha-Buthe, where despite assistance from various humanitarian organisations, they had to live in harsh conditions. They were visited not only by journalists, but also by politicians of the Maporesha Group, and it was clear from interviews given that they were living in great fear of the police, even being afraid to travel lest their vehicles might be ambushed by the police. In Maseru, on Friday 20 September, apparently in a spontaneous reaction to the newspaper’s reporting of the events, a group of alleged Majelathoko invaded the office of Moafrika and damaged equipment. On 24 September, students from the National University of Lesotho abandoned classes, and approximately one thousand staged a peaceful though boisterous demonstration through Maseru in protest at the police action at Butha-Buthe. A petition was handed in. Meanwhile the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs, Professor Pakalitha Mosisili, announced that Government was indeed going to appoint a two-person Commission of Inquiry to look into the incident. One member was to be the British adviser to the Police Force, and the other would be a senior public figure. The fact that the name of the second member was not announced seemed to suggest that there was difficulty in finding a person to undertake the work. The likelihood of delays in the Project was disappointing, given that there was no shortage of water in the new Katse Reservoir. During the previous summer’s impoundment, thanks to a wet summer, the reservoir had filled up much faster than predicted, and a large amount of water had been released so that the reservoir level did not prematurely reach areas where work was still going on, particularly the grouting on the wall of the Katse Dam, which is done only some months after concrete emplacement. By the beginning of September, concrete emplacement on the dam was 98% complete, and on 6 September the water surface reached 1993 metres above sea level (108 metres deep at the dam wall), which was the level at which Lesotho became entitled to receive the first royalty payment of M100 million. At the other end of the Transfer Tunnel, however, the ’Muela Dam was still incomplete, and the by-pass to the power station (needed because water was going to be ready long before the hydropower complex had been completed) had not yet been constructed. Even before the strike, the planned water delivery date had already been postponed to January 1998. The Butha-Buthe incident was also clearly not going to help relations with the World Bank, which was already under considerable pressure because of perceptions that it was supporting a project which had not had a full Environmental Impact Assessment and which had not treated people displaced by the project fairly. Whether or not this second allegation was justified had been ventilated at a meeting organised in Johannesburg in late August by the Group for Environmental Monitoring. At this meeting, unusually for the project, representatives of a wide group of stakeholders were present, including persons living in the project area. Looming ahead was whether the World Bank would provide assistance with Phase 1B of the project in which far more people were going to be affected, with some 3000 persons needing to be moved from areas which would be inundated.
At
the
end
of
September,
despite
attempts
to
bring
the
parties
together,
there
had
been
no
agreement
between
LHPC,
MHPC
and
the
dismissed
workers.
Work
on
all
major
construction
sites
of
Phase
IA
of
the
Highlands
Water
Project
(except
for
the
Katse
Dam
itself)
remained
at
a
standstill.
Lesotho Airways workers went on strike on Friday 27 September demanding a 40% pay increase. Amongst other grievances was the chartering by Lesotho Airways of a South African aircraft at a cost of M12 000 per day, as a result of the reduction of the Lesotho Airways fleet to two 18-seater Twin Otter aircraft. The 44-seater Fokker F-27, although it had been repaired, had still not yet returned to service following its damage by hail in 1995.
Amongst
those
held
up
by
the
strike
were
the
Anglican
Bishop
of
Durham
in
England,
the
Rt.
Rev.
Michael
Turnbull,
who
had
been
visiting
Lesotho
as
part
of
a
link
between
the
Durham
and
Lesotho
dioceses.
Mosotho Author Honoured at Graduation The National University of Lesotho held its annual Graduation Ceremony on Saturday 28 September. 619 degrees, diplomas and certificates were awarded. On behalf of the graduands, their chosen representative, who by custom makes a speech on such an occasion, emphasised the increasing problems of graduates finding employment in Lesotho.
The
University
honoured
the
octogenarian
author
and
veteran
politician,
Bennett
Makalo
Khaketla
with
the
degree
of
Doctor
of
Letters,
honoris
causa.
In
his
acceptance
speech
Dr.
Khaketla
explained
the
curious
sequence
by
which
he
had
come
to
know
he
was
to
receive
a
degree.
His
first
intimation
was
when
a
university
sempstress
had
come
to
measure
him
for
the
gown,
a
few
days
previously;
it
was
only
a
day
or
so
before
the
occasion
that
he
had
been
officially
told
what
it
was
all
about.
The
award
of
the
degree
was
the
second
to
his
family.
His
wife,
’Masechele
Khaketla,
also
a
distinguished
Sesotho
author,
had
been
similarly
honoured
by
the
University
in
1983.
[updated to 30 June 1996] |