|
SUMMARY
OF
EVENTS
IN
LESOTHO
Volume 13,
Number
1, (First Quarter 2006)
Summary
of
Events
is
a
quarterly
publication
compiled
and
published
by
Prof.
David
Ambrose
since
1993
at
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
in
Roma.
Anglican
Bishop
Announces
Resignation;
Appointment
of
Vicar
General
Creates
Discord
New
Dictionary
Fails
to
Live
Up
to
Expectations
Lesotho
Sovereign
Ratings
for
2005
Published
`Send
a
Cow'
Features
Lesotho
in
its
Lifeline
Magazine
Sesotho
Names
Suggested
for
Free
State
Towns
Death
of
Principal
Chief
of
Tsikoane
Cotton
Trials
Underway
in
Lesotho
Hail
Prevention
Measures
Challenged
in
Maseru
Suburb
Death
of
Father
Ernest
Ruch
OMI
Lesotho
Palaeontology
Updated
Memorials
Unveiled
to
King
Moshoeshoe
II
and
Queen
'Mamohato
New
Newspaper
Bang!
Hits
the
Streets
of
Maseru
Al-Gadafi
Project
Announced
National
University
of
Lesotho
Administration
Faces
Problems
Death
of
Anton
Rupert,
Pioneer
Supporter
of
the
Lesotho
National
Development
Corporation
Four
People
Have
Narrow
Escape
when
Helicopter
Crashes
in
Mokhotlong
District
Lerotholi
Polytechnic
Celebrates
Centenary
Dolen
Cymru
Works
Hard
to
Get
Lesotho
Adopted
by
the
Welsh
Assembly
Mpho
Malie
takes
over
LCD
Secretary-Generalship
from
Sephiri
Motanyane
Minister
Shot
in
Arm;
Commissioner
of
Police
Complains
of
Non-Cooperation
in
Investigation
Record-Breaking
Rains
Cause
Deaths
and
Damage
Osama
and
Taliban
Compete
for
Basotho
on
the
Move
Initiation
Schools
Go
from
Strength
to
Strength
15-storey
Building
Proposed
on
Maseru
Club
Site
Chief
Justice
Announces
Closure
of
Files
on
80%
of
High
Court
Cases
Cambridge
Overseas
School
Certificate
Examination
Results
Published
Lesotho
Representatives
on
Water
Commission
Charged
with
Receiving
Bribes
Budget
Speech
Tackles
National
Problems
&
Includes
Massive
Increases
for
Local
Government
Finance
Minister
Stresses
Need
for
University
to
Meet
Needs
of
Labour
Market
Deferred
Pay
Fund
Closes
Parliament
Debates
Budget
Proposals:
Lesotho
Fund
for
Community
Development
Criticised
Diamond
Mining
Statistics
Provided
to
Parliament
New
Ambassadors
to
WTO
and
China
Commisioned
Friends
of
Morija
Museum
&
Archives
Host
an
Evening
in
Honour
of
Prof.
J.
M.
Mohapeloa
Murder
Suspects
Lynched
in
Maseru
Suburbs
Question
Asked
in
Parliament
about
Maseru
Mayor's
Chain
of
Office
Prime
Minister
Opens
New
Japanese
Funded
Primary
Schools
Thaba-Bosiu
Cultural
Village
EIA
Begins;
Archaeological
Finds
Pose
Problems
Outstanding
Rock
Art
Site
under
Threat
Census
Preparations
Under
Way
Maseru
Bridge
Border
Post
undergoes
Transformation
on
the
South
African
Side
Intervarsity
Games
Held
in
Lesotho
Work
Begins
on
New
Ministry
of
Health
&
Social
Welfare
Headquarters
Minister
of
Finance
Addresses
Concerns
about
Cooperative
Societies
Parliamentary
Questions
Reveal
the
Shortage
of
Nurses
Prime
Minister
and
Cabinet
Colleague
Involved
in
High
Profile
Defamation
Case
New
Head
of
Lesotho
Revenue
Authority
Appointed
Lesotho
Competes
in
Commonwealth
Games;
Silver
Medal
Winner
Suffers
Serious
Injuries
Death
of
Principal
Chief
of
Leribe
New
Water
Project
Opened
in
Roma
Hard
Hitting
and
Grim
Report
on
HIV/AIDS
in
Lesotho
and
Swaziland
Published
Police
Officers
Leave
for
Darfur
▲back
to top
The
Anglican
Bishop
of
Lesotho,
the
Right
Reverend
Joseph
Mahapu
Tsubella,
announced
in
December
2005
that
he
was
resigning
and
would
terminate
his
episcopacy
with
effect
from
June
2006.
Bishop
Tsubella
announced
his
departure
in
a
letter
to
the
heads
of
the
main
church
denominations
stating
`For
one
to
be
called
a
foreigner
and
told
in
the
face
to
go
back
home
(to
South
Africa)
is
unacceptable
to
the
church
of
God'.
Bishop
Tsubella
is
himself
a
Mosotho,
but
was
born
in
Marquard
in
the
Free
State,
in
an
area
which
was
once
part
of
the
Kingdom
of
Lesotho.
A
second
letter
by
Bishop
Tsubella
to
the
clergy
reflects
the
bitterness
which
had
developed
between
himself
and
some
of
them,
when,
a
year
earlier,
they
had
called
for
his
dismissal
and
made
threats
of
dire
consequences
if
he
remained
in
office.
The
letter
goes
on
to
say
that
his
resignation
was
'...
giving
chance
to
those
priests
who
are
power-hungry,
full
of
jealousy
and
thinking
to
be
the
only
priests
capable
to
be
bishop
to
prove
themselves'.
Bishop
Tsubella
had
been
consecrated
and
enthroned
as
Bishop
of
Lesotho
by
the
Archbishop
of
Cape
Town
in
December
1999,
and
his
appointment
had
followed
a
fiercely
contested
electoral
assembly
in
Maseru
which
failed
to
choose
a
bishop
from
five
local
candidates.
The
electoral
system,
combined
with
the
unwillingness
of
any
of
those
contesting
to
drop
out
of
the
race,
had
led
to
deadlock.
A
direct
appointment
by
the
House
of
Bishops
of
the
Church
of
the
Province
of
South
Africa
had
therefore
been
inevitable.
Bishop
Tsubella
is
the
fifth
Bishop
of
the
Anglican
See
of
Lesotho,
which
was
created
in
1950,
having
been
formerly
part
of
the
Diocese
of
Bloemfontein.
The
first
and
longest
serving
Bishop
of
Lesotho
(then
Basutoland)
was
John
Maund
and
he
was
followed
in
succession
by
Desmond
Tutu,
Philip
Mokuku
and
Andrew
Duma.
Bishop
Tsubella
later
announced
he
would
go
on
leave
at
the
beginning
of
April
before
departing
from
the
see
at
the
beginning
of
June
2006.
However,
even
his
impending
departure
caused
controversy
sufficient
for
Public
Eye
to
run
the
headline
in
its
issue
of
31
March
2006
`Anglican
bishop
departs
in
arsenal
of
discord'.
The
discord
in
this
case
was
apparently
mainly
over
the
bishop's
appointment
of
Rev.
Joseph
Leoli,
the
diocesan
secretary-treasurer,
as
Vicar
General
of
the
Diocese.
The
Vicar
General
is
the
person
who
becomes
responsible
under
canon
law
to
administer
a
diocese
in
the
absence
of
a
bishop
for
a
period
of
more
than
six
weeks.
This
appointment
resulted
in
eleven
clergy
writing
a
letter
copied
to
the
Archbishop
of
Cape
Town,
objecting
to
Father
Leoli's
appointment,
and
indicating
that
the
appointment
should
have
gone
to
the
Dean,
Rev.
Andrew
Tebello
Duma,
as
the
diocese's
most
senior
clergyman.
The
clergy
objected
to
Father
Leoli's
appointment
on
the
grounds
of
some
past
irregularities
in
relation
to
the
presentation
of
audited
accounts.
However,
Father
Leoli,
when
asked
about
this,
said
that
since
1999,
audited
financial
reports
had
been
prepared
and
presented
to
the
synod.
The
eleven
clergy
also
expressed
dissatisfaction
about
the
dismissals
of
the
secretary
to
the
bishop,
'Malefu
Lukase;
and
the
secretary
to
the
secretary-treasurer,
'Mathomas
Nyenye;
and
also
the
dismissal
of
the
diocesan
chancellor,
Mr
Justice
W.
C.
M.
Maqutu.
Further
concern
was
that
the
bishop
was
leaving
without
handing
over
the
diocesan
property.
In
their
letter
the
eleven
clergy
called
for
an
urgent
diocesan
council
meeting
`to
address
the
maladies
of
the
church'.
▲back
to top
Sesotho
has
for
a
long
time
been
well
served
by
dictionaries
which
provide
the
meanings
of
Sesotho
words
in
English,
but
this
is
hardly
of
help
to
the
school
child
or
indeed
any
adult
with
little
English
who
is
faced
with
an
unfamiliar
Sesotho
word.
An
excellent
Sesotho
thesaurus,
Khetsi
ea
Sesotho,
was
published
by
Thabo
Pitso
in
1997,
but
a
standard
Sesotho
dictionary
with
definitions
in
Sesotho
has
not
been
available.
The
publishers
Longman
have
now
attempted
to
fill
the
gap,
by
publishing
Sethantso
sa
Sesotho
(Dictionary
of
Sesotho)
by
Batho
Hlalele,
edited
by
'Malehlohonolo
Matia
and
Tlhoriso
Sakachane.
The
compiler
of
this
325
page
book
is
a
former
Catholic
priest
and
alumnus
of
Pius
XII
College,
who
has
apparently
been
collecting
material
for
a
Sesotho
dictionary
for
over
40
years.
In
the
book,
the
words
are
arranged
alphabetically
by
the
full
word
(not
by
stem),
regarding
h,
hl,
k,
kh,
k'h,
n,
ng,
ny,
q,
qh,
t,
th,
tl,
tlh,
ts,
ts
etc
as
separate
initial
letters
(although
'm
and
'n
are
not
alphabetically
distinguished).
However,
within
words,
the
English
natural
alphabetical
order
is
followed
(probably
because
of
a
computer
sort)
so
that
whereas
hoeba
comes
before
hlolo,
mohlolo
comes
before
mohoebe
(curiously
mohoebi
which
is
a
much
commoner
word
is
not
there).
The
headword
is
followed
by
the
plural
prefix
for
nouns
and
by
the
past
tense
for
verbs.
There
then
follow
in
Sesotho
the
part
of
speech
(with
class
for
nouns),
and
an
explanation
of
the
meaning.
Etymological
information
is
rather
sparsely
provided
at
the
end,
and
may
include
the
Sesotho
parent
word,
or
the
language
of
derivation,
although
this
has
sometimes
been
missed.
It
would
have
been
of
interest
to
know,
for
example,
that
the
Sesotho
word
for
detective,
lefokisi,
is
derived
from
the
English
name
Fox.
Inspector
Fox
was
the
chief
of
the
diamond
detectives
at
Kimberley
in
the
1870s,
and
a
lefokisi
or
'Fox-man'
was
originally
one
of
Fox's
plainclothes
Basotho
detectives
trying
to
trap
those
involved
in
illicit
diamond
buying.
For
the
word
lejakane,
meaning
a
Christian,
the
dictionary
provides
the
cryptic
etymological
note
`(<
jan
+
kemp)',
which
in
the
shorthand
of
the
dictionary
indicates
the
word
comes
from
j
j
an
+
kemp'.
It
would
have
been
a
little
more
enlightening
if
an
extra
line
had
been
added
to
explain,
as
noted
by
Eugene
Casalis
more
than
150
years
ago,
that
lejakane
derives
from
Xhosa
le-Yankana,
meaning
a
follower
of
'Yankana',
the
name
the
Xhosas
gave
to
their
very
first
Christian
missionary,
Jan
van
der
Kemp,
who
died
in
1811.
While
such
a
dictionary
is
a
great
need,
its
omissions
are
puzzling.
For
a
start
the
word
sethantso
used
in
its
title
is
itself
not
there
(and
it
is
hardly
a
common
word).
Many
common
words
are
missing
such
as
motse
(village),
monna
(man),
mosali
(woman),
motsoali
(parent)
and
even
pitso
(meeting).
For
completeness
they
ought
to
have
been
included,
although
a
dictionary
user
would
hardly
need
to
know
their
meanings.
On
the
matter
of
plants
and
animals,
the
dictionary
is
generally
unreliable.
Common
words
such
as
lenong
and
letlaka,
both
meaning
`vulture',
are
not
there,
although
ntsu
(eagle)
is
listed.
The
bird
mokhotlo
(bald
ibis)
after
which
one
of
Lesotho's
districts
takes
its
name
is
also
missing.
In
relation
to
trees,
common
indigenous
trees
such
as
lebetsa,
lelothoane,
mokhoamphiri,
moluoane
and
motale
are
missing,
as
are
exotics
such
as
boloukomo
(blue
gum)
and
tabakabume
(tobacco
tree),
although
perekisi
(peach)
and
popoliri
(poplar)
are
included.
When
it
comes
to
people,
Mosotho
is
missing,
although
curiously
Leseteli
is
included.
Its
definition
is
a
person
of
mixed
descent
from
a
Mokhothu
(Khoikhoi)
and
a
Lekhooa
(white
person).
However,
the
dictionary
does
not
provide
meanings
for
either
Mokhothu
or
Lekhooa.
Overall,
while
a
dictionary
of
this
kind
could
meet
a
very
important
need,
the
present
dictionary
is
so
inconsistent
and
incomplete
that
it
largely
fails
in
its
intended
purpose.
▲back
to top
The
Central
Bank
ofLesotho
Economic
Review
is
published
monthly
some
three
months
in
arrears.
The
issue
dated
October
2005
provides
details
of
Lesotho's
Fitch
Sovereign
Credit
Ratings,
an
international
comparison
of
the
capacity
and
willingness
of
sovereign
governments
to
service
their
debts
within
the
maturity
dates
and
in
accordance
with
conditions
agreed
with
the
creditors.
The
scale
applied
by
Fitch
has
a
top
rating
of
AAA
and
a
bottom
rating
of
D,
with
the
lower
the
rating
the
greater
the
probability
of
default.
Government
rated
above
BBB
are
said
to
be
`investment
grade'
and
those
below
fall
into
the
category
of
`speculative
grade'.
For
2005,
Lesotho's
Long
Term
Foreign
Currency
rating
is
left
unchanged
at
BB-,
a
rating
shared
with
countries
such
as
Brazil,
Indonesia,
Turkey,
Ukraine
and
Vietnam.
In
the
case
of
the
Short
Term
Foreign
Currency
Rating
the
rating
is
`speculative
(B)'.
However
in
relation
to
Long
Term
Local
Currency
Commitments,
Lesotho
receives
a
better
rating
of
BB+.
In
the
rating
process,
Fitch
identified
strengths
and
weaknesses
for
Lesotho.
`Relative
political
stability,
strong
integration
into
the
South
African
economy,
strong
fiscal
position
and
strong
international
liquidity
were
identified
as
major
rating
strengths.
However,
the
external
shock
to
the
textile
sector,
public
expenditure
management
and
social
and
development
challenges
were
cited
weaknesses
to
the
rating
of
Lesotho.'
▲back
to top
The
British-based
charity,
Send
a
Cow,
is
based
on
the
idea
that
rural
development
is
best
supported
by
providing
a
means
of
livelihood.
The
charity
is
part
of
the
`Make
Poverty
History'
coalition.
It
first
began
work
in
1988
in
Uganda
and
now
works
in
Ethiopia,
Kenya,
Uganda,
Tanzania,
Rwanda,
Zambia
and
Lesotho.
In
the
case
of
Lesotho,
because
of
the
inappropriateness
of
sending
cows
to
Lesotho
which
is
already
chronically
overstocked,
the
charity
is
known
as
Stock
Aid.
Its
Lesotho
headquarters
are
in
Morija.
Lesotho
is
profiled
in
Send
a
Cow's
Lifeline
magazine
for
(northern
hemisphere)
Autumn
2005.
In
addition
the
charity's
work
in
Lesotho
is
described
in
the
October
to
December
2005
issue
of
the
Lesotho
Government's
own
Agricultural
Information
Services'
magazine
Mobu
ke
Letlotlo.
In
Lesotho
the
charity
has
particularly
supported
horticultural
development.
Morija-based
David
Hall
was
responsible
for
bringing
the
charity
to
Lesotho,
and
has
also
worked
on
establishing
its
work
elsewhere
in
Africa.
Send
a
Cow
Lesotho's
horticultural
trainer
has
been
New
Zealand-born
Christabel
Jackson.
The
magazine
articles
include
interviews
with
villagers
who
have
benefited
from
Send
a
Cow's
work.
▲back
to top
As
reported
in
the
South
African
press
towards
the
end
of
2005,
there
is
a
Free
State
Provincial
Place
Name
Committee,
which
is
considering
proposals
for
changing
the
names
of
Free
State
towns
and
other
geographical
features.
For
the
capital
of
the
Free
State,
Bloemfontein,
it
has
been
suggested
by
a
Basotho
cultural
association
in
the
city
that
it
might
be
renamed
Thabure,
after
the
horse
of
Chief
Lerotholi,
a
grandson
of
King
Moshoeshoe.
Lerotholi
was
a
hero
of
the
Gun
War
of
1880-1,
who
later
became
Paramount
Chief
from
1891
to
1905.
Rather
strangely,
however,
unlike
his
brother
Maama,
whose
exploits
and
even
his
horse's
name,
Koloboi,
appear
in
his
praise
poetry,
there
is
no
mention
in
the
lithoko
of
Chief
Lerotholi
of
Thabure.
The
link
between
Thabure
and
Bloemfontein
is
rather
tenuous
but
might
become
clearer
with
further
research.
However,
what
is
known
is
that
a
white
horse
was
painted
on
Naval
Hill
in
Bloemfontein,
and
for
much
of
the
twentieth
century,
Basotho
travelling
to
Bloemfontein
by
train
or
road
would
point
out
the
horse
to
their
children
as
Thabure,
pere
ea
Morena
Lerotholi
(Thabure,
Chief
Lerotholis's
horse).
Quite
how
this
arose
is
not
certain,
and
exactly
who
painted
the
horse
on
the
hill
is
also
rather
shrouded
in
mystery.
It
is
believed,
however,
that
it
may
have
been
the
work
of
a
British
naval
detachment
from
Simonstown.
The
British
navy
had
little
to
do
during
the
Anglo-Boer
War
(after
all
the
Boer
Republics,
who
were
the
enemy,
had
no
sea
coast
and
therefore
no
navy!).
However
some
sailors
were
sent
to
Bloemfontein
to
defend
the
garrison
with
naval
guns.
They
were
stationed
on
what
became
known
as
Naval
Hill,
and
apparently,
trying
to
make
Bloemfontein
reminiscent
of
their
home
country,
provided
it
with
a
white
horse
on
the
east
side
facing
Lesotho,
similar
to
the
white
horses
carved
in
the
chalk
on
the
downs
of
southern
England.
Amongst
other
Free
State
towns
it
is
suggested
that
Clocolan
should
become
Hlohloloane,
which
is
indeed
a
correct
representation
of
its
pronunciation
in
Sesotho
and
is
the
name
of
a
nearby
hill.
Ficksburg
is
named
after
Commandant-General
J.
I.
J.
Fick
who
cleared
Basotho
off
the
land
and
burnt
their
villages
in
the
Seqiti
War
of
1865-8,
and
it
is
proposed
it
should
be
renamed
Joalaboholo
('much
beer')
after
the
nearby
hilltop
fortress
of
the
Batlokoa.
The
proposal
for
Fouriesburg,
named
after
Christoffel
Fourie,
who
owned
the
land
on
which
the
town
was
founded
in
1892,
is
that
it
should
be
renamed
Fothane
also
after
a
nearby
hill.
Ladybrand
is
named
after
Lady
Catharina
Brand,
wife
of
Sir
Christoffel
Brand,
the
first
Speaker
of
the
Cape
Legislative
Assembly.
She
was
the
mother
of
J.
H.
Brand,
the
President
of
the
Orange
Free
State
when
the
town
was
founded
in
1867.
In
this
case
there
is
no
obvious
Sesotho
name
for
the
town,
other
than
Manyatseng,
the
name
of
its
black
township
which
arose
as
a
result
of
apartheid
and
the
Group
Areas
Act.
However
in
proposing
new
names
for
towns,
the
old
black
township
names
have
been
avoided,
and
for
Ladybrand
the
proposed
new
name
is
Mabolela.
This
name
may
be
rather
difficult
to
defend,
however,
because
it
is
the
name
of
a
mountain
over
20
km
to
the
NNE,
closer
to
Clocolan
than
Ladybrand.
On
the
south
side
of
this
mountain,
Chief
Paulus
Mopeli,
younger
brother
of
King
Moshoeshoe,
had
once
had
his
village
next
to
the
Mabolela
Mission
of
the
Paris
Evangelical
Missionary
Society.
Paulus
Mopeli
was
defeated
by
the
Boer
army
in
1866,
and
had
little
choice
but
to
move
with
his
people
to
Witzie's
Hoek,
now
known
as
Qwaqwa.
Sesotho
names
closer
to
Ladybrand
have
connotations
not
very
acceptable.
For
example,
the
Platberg
mountain
which
encloses
Ladybrand
to
the
south
and
west
is
known
in
Sesotho
as
Makulukameng,
`the
place
of
Griquas',
referring
to
the
Wesleyan
Methodist
Platberg
Mission
and
its
adjoining
village
on
the
south
side
of
the
plateau.
There
is
perhaps
scope
in
the
case
of
Ladybrand
for
an
entirely
new
name.
Since
Ladybrand
has
a
sign
greeting
visitors
with
the
message
`Peace
reigns
in
our
valley',
it
might
consider
Kgotsophuleng,
`peace
in
the
valley;
or
Habokgotso,
`the
haven
of
peace'.
At
the
moment
the
new
names
are
merely
proposals,
and
the
public
has
been
asked
to
comment
on
their
suitability.
▲back
to top
The
Principal
Chief
of
Tsikoane,
Peka
and
Kolberg,
Chief
Lechesa
Mathealira,
died
aged
76
on
28
December
2005.
He
had
been
suffering
from
diabetes
for
many
years.
Chief
Lechesa
Mathealira
had
been
installed
as
chief
of
Peka,
Kolonyama
&
Fobane
in
1962
and
later
took
over
the
Tsikoane
Ward
on
the
death
of
his
father
Jonathan
Mathealira.
During
the
period
of
Military
Rule
he
had
served
in
the
Council
of
Ministers
successively
as
Minister
of
Cooperatives,
Rural
Development,
Youth
and
Women's
Affairs;
and
Minister
of
Tourism,
Sport
and
Culture.
▲back
to top
As
reported
in
the
lead
story
of
Lesotho
Today
of
5
January
2006,
experimental
cotton
trials
are
underway
at
the
Agricultural
Research
Station
in
Maseru.
Under
the
supervision
of
two
Malaysian
experts,
two
types
of
cotton
were
planted
in
October
2005,
and
will
be
harvested
in
May.
The
experiment
has
been
undertaken
to
see
whether
Lesotho
can
grow
the
raw
materials
needed
for
its
textile
industries.
▲back
to top
Hail
is
a
much
feared
phenomenon,
believed
to
be
controllable
in
various
traditional
ways,
including
use
of
medicine,
no
weeding
in
the
fields
after
10
a.m.,
and
perhaps
most
extraordinary
of
all,
not
allowing
clothes
to
be
hung
out
on
clotheslines
between
10
a.m.
and
2
p.m.
Quite
how
the
last
of
these
prohibitions
originated
is
uncertain,
but
in
rural
areas
it
is
widely
practised,
and
few
subjects
of
a
chief
would
dare
to
challenge
it,
lest
a
hailstorm
did
occur
and
they
were
blamed
for
its
occurrence,
and
incurred
the
consequent
wrath
of
other
villagers.
An
anonymous
letter
to
Public
Eye
of
6
January
2006,
refers
to
Chief
Lebipi
Mothobi
of
Lithabaneng
Ha
Keiso
in
the
suburbs
of
Maseru
having
held
a
pitso
at
which
it
was
decreed
that
washing
should
not
be
hung
out
in
his
area
on
clothes
lines
between
10
a.m.
and
2
p.m.
Moreover,
the
chief
threatened
that
his
men
would
seize
any
clothing
found
hung
out
during
the
said
time
of
prohibition
and
bring
it
to
him.
The
writer
refers
to
Section
13
of
the
Constitution
and
the
right
of
freedom
of
religion,
which
he
believes
is
being
infringed
by
the
chief
s
decree.
If
someone
personally
does
not
believe
in
the
efficacy
of
the
hail
prevention
measures,
then
he
or
she
should
have
the
right
to
hang
out
clothes
at
any
time,
and
not
to
have
them
confiscated
by
the
chiefs
`ruffians'.
Besides,
it
is
pointed
out,
people
in
the
nearby
suburbs
of
Motimposo
and
Khubetsoana
have
no
similar
prohibition.
Why
is
it
then
that
they
are
not
being
visited
by
hailstorms?
In
its
issue
of
27
January
2006,
Public
Eye
reported
an
interview
with
Chief
Lebipi
Mothobi.
He
claimed
that
he
had
taken
action
after
storms
had
pounded
his
area
on
7
September
and
7
October
2005,
when
roofs
had
been
blown
off
and
hail
had
shattered
windows.
At
the
pitso
called,
villagers
had
agreed
to
go
back
to
traditional
remedies
for
hail,
which
resulted
in
a
10
a.m.
to
2
p.m.
ban
on
hanging
out
washing.
Those
who
infringed
the
ban
were
supposed
to
pay
a
fine
of
M100,
rather
than
have
their
washing
seized.
A
meeting
was,
however,
planned
at
his
office
on
5
February
2006
to
try
to
resolve
the
issue.
▲back
to top
 Father
Ernest
Ruch
OMI,
a
person
of
extraordinary
versatility
and
great
talents,
who
served
Pius
XII
College
and
its
successor
institutions
for
some
30
years,
died
in
France
on
5
January
2006,
aged
77
years.
Ernest
Ruch
was
born
in
1928,
near
Strasbourg,
Alsace,
a
part
of
France
which
at
times
in
its
history
has
been
part
of
Germany,
and
where
German,
which
was
his
native
language,
was
still
spoken.
Alsace
fell
under
German
occupation
again
during
the
Second
World
War,
and
at
the
age
of
15,
Ernest
found
himself
conscripted
into
the
German
army.
He
was
not
long
afterwards
captured
and
spent
the
rest
of
the
war
as
a
Russian
prisoner-of-war.
Back
home
he
entered
the
missionary
order
of
Oblates
of
Mary
Immaculate
and
studied
Philosophy
and
Theology
at
the
Gregorian
University
in
Rome,
where
he
was
ordained
priest
in
1955.
Soon
afterwards
he
found
himself
in
Rome's
namesake,
appointed
to
the
staff
of
Pius
XII
College.
Ernest
Ruch
made
his
mark
on
the
campus,
on
the
Roma
Valley
and
on
Lesotho
in
so
many
ways
that
one
can
hardly
do
justice
to
them
in
a
short
obituary.
He
was
for
example
a
talented
artist,
whose
portraits
of
the
University's
first
Chancellors
still
hang
in
the
University's
Senate
Room.
He
was
also
an
architect
whose
work
can
be
seen,
for
example,
in
the
Presbytery
at
St
Augustine's
Seminary
in
Roma
and
in
numerous
other
ecclesiastical
buildings,
such
as
the
large
church
at
Bethany
Mission.
As
a
designer
of
stained
glass,
he
was
responsible
for
the
strikingly
modern
designs
of
the
windows
of
the
Pius
XII
College
House
Chapel.
As
a
graphic
designer
he
was
responsible
for
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
Coat
of
Arms,
and
as
a
mosaicist,
he
provided
a
rendering
of
it
in
mosaic
form
on
the
wall
flanking
the
main
university
entrance.
As
a
scholar,
the
topic
of
his
doctoral
thesis
was
Space
and
time:
a
comparative
study
of
the
theories
ofAristotle
and
Einstein.
He
later
wrote
a
book
on
African
philosophy,
and
he
was
Professor
of
Philosophy
throughout
much
of
his
period
at
Roma.
As
a
linguist,
he
was
competent
in
eight
languages.
He
was
also,
inter
alia,
an
organist
of
distinction,
and
more
mundanely,
a
locksmith
who
was
consulted
by
all
and
sundry
when
they
lost
their
keys!
The
police
also
made
use
of
him
whenever
they
had
a
safe
they
needed
to
open.
As
the
Pius
XII
College
Librarian,
he
acquired
bookbinding
skills,
and
some
of
the
books
he
rebound
are
still
in
the
Thomas
Mofolo
Library
at
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
in
serviceable
condition.
Amongst
memories
older
students
have
is
of
the
pantomime,
Cinderoma,
which
was
performed
at
Christmas
1966,
when
the
campus
was
unusually
full
of
staff
and
students,
because
classes
had
to
be
held
to
make
up
for
those
lost
during
a
water
shortage.
The
caste
featured
a
variety
of
staff
and
students
and
a
memorable
aspect
of
the
performance
was
the
`Ballad
of
UBLS'
composed
and
sung
to
a
guitar
by
Ernest
Ruch
which
poked
fun
at
all
aspects
of
University
life
(at
a
time
when
criticism
of
the
institution
by
its
staff
was
not
discouraged).
If
most
of
the
words
are
now
lost,
at
least
the
chorus
was
memorable:
Oh,
Oh,
Oh
what
a
mess!
U-
U-
U-B-L-S!
Was
there
anything
Ernest
Ruch
could
not
do?
Well
apart
from
his
being
unable
to
give
up
smoking,
there
was
the
question
of
his
skills
as
a
sculptor.
These
can
be
seen
in
the
statue
of
the
founder
of
the
oblate
congregation,
Bishop
Eugene
de
Mazenod,
which
stands
outside
the
main
entrance
at
the
Oblate
Scholasticate
in
Roma;
and
also
in
a
depiction
of
the
Resurrection
at
the
Oblate
Cemetery
in
Mazenod.
A
fellow
oblate
staff
member,
Father
Dermot
Tuohy,
felt
that
the
latter
looked
more
like
the
crucifixion,
and
was
heard
to
comment
that
the
skills
of
one
Father
Lerotholi
were
needed
to
remove
these
monstrosities.
(Father
Lerotholi's
fame
as
an
iconoclast
derived
from
his
having
once
reversed
a
lorry
into
and
toppled
the
statue
of
the
Blessed
Virgin
Mary
which
formerly
stood
in
the
centre
of
the
quadrangle
adjoining
the
Mazenod
Book
Centre.)
Ironically,
Dermot
Tuohy
is
buried
adjoining
a
Ruch
statue,
and
Ernest
Ruch
is
buried
in
an
oblate
graveyard
in
his
native
land!
After
leaving
Roma,
Lesotho,
Father
Ruch
returned
to
its
namesake
in
Italy
in
1986
where
he
became
Secretary-General
of
the
Oblate
Congregation.
On
a
visit
to
Lesotho,
he
was
heard
to
remark
that
he
could
speak
to
virtually
all
members
of
the
oblate
congregation
from
various
lands
in
their
own
tongues,
except
the
Poles,
and
he
was
working
hard
on
that!
In
1993
he
returned
to
France
and
from
1996
to
2000
was
Director
of
the
Mazenod
Centre
in
Aix-en-Provence,
where
Eugene
de
Mazenod
had
originally
founded
the
Oblate
Congregation.
He
retired
in
2000
and
in
his
final
years
suffered
from
Alzheimer's
disease.
It
was
a
sad
twist
of
fate
that
a
man
of
so
many
talents,
used
to
such
great
effect,
should
finally
be
unable
to
communicate
with
those
around
him.
▲back
to top
Two
recent
volumes
in
the
Lesotho
Annotated
Bibliography
series
by
House
9
Publications
are
Palaeontology
(December
2005),
iv
+
114pp.;
and
Palaeobotany
&
Palynology
(January
2006),
iv
+
46pp.
For
the
uninitiated,
Palaeontology
deals
with
fossils,
which
in
the
first
volume
is
largely
confined
to
fossil
animals;
Palaeobotany
deals
with
fossil
plants;
and
Palynology
with
fossil
pollen.
All
three
areas
are
ones
where,
although
Lesotho
academics
have
not
been
much
involved,
there
has
been
considerable
research
done
in
Lesotho
and
on
Lesotho
materials
by
scientists
from
France,
Britain,
USA,
and
South
Africa,
in
some
cases
with
exciting
results
of
worldwide
significance.
There
are
exhibits
of
Lesotho
materials
in
museums
in
South
Africa
and
overseas,
but
Lesotho
does
not
yet
have
its
own
National
Museum.
So
what's
new
in
Lesotho
palaeontology?
The
introductions
to
these
books
provide
answers.
As
many
people
know,
Lesotho
was
once
famous
for
having
the
world's
earliest
mammal.
For
a
long
time
this
was
believed
to
be
Tritylodon
found
in
1882
in
Mafeteng
District.
Lesotho
retained
this
distinction
for
some
50
years
until
scientists
redefined
the
criteria
for
distinguishing
mammals
and
relegated
Tritylodon
to
the
status
of
a
mere
mammal-like
reptile.
The
world's
earliest
mammal
then
became
Morganucodon,
known
only
from
a
few
scattered
teeth
found
in
Wales
and
in
the
Lu
Feng
Beds
in
the
Yunnan
Province
of
China.
However,
Lesotho
was
ready
to
fight
back!
By
the
end
of
the
1960s,
new
finds
from
Mafeteng
and
Quthing
Districts
produced
Erythrotherium
and
Megazostrodon,
successively
recognized
as
the
world's
earliest
mammal,
providing
Lesotho
with
an
appropriate
entry
in
the
Guinness
Book
of
Records
in
the
1970s
and
1980s.
But
the
glory
was
not
to
last.
The
world's
earliest
mammal
has
been
pushed
back
15
million
years
further
by
a
find
in
the
Dockum
beds
of
Texas,
and
Adelobasileus
is
now
the
world's
earliest
mammal,
based
on
a
tiny
skull
which
`shows
unmistakeable
signs
of
having
passed
through
the
gut
of
a
predator'.
 So
what
can
Lesotho
now
offer
as
unique?
The
illustration
at
right
(click
to
enlarge)
presents
Lesotho's
latest
claim
to
fame
and
comes
from
a
2005
paper
by
J.
Sebastien
Steyer
and
Ross
Damiani
in
the
Bulletin
de
la
Societe
Geologique
de
France.
A
small
fragment
of
a
skull,
just
22
cm
long,
was
found
in
1970
by
a
French
Expedition
near
Alwynskop
in
Quthing
District.
It
has
now
been
redescribed
and
gives
Lesotho
the
honour
of
having
once
(about
210
million
years
ago)
hosted
the
world's
largest
amphibian.
Technically
a
member
of
the
Superfamily
Brachyopoidea
in
the
Order
Temnospondyli,
this
creature,
as
reconstructed
by
A.
Beneteau,
was
like
a
large
salamander
some
7
metres
long.
The
remains
are
not
sufficiently
complete
for
the
animal
to
receive
a
generic
or
species
name.
Someone,
please
find
some
more
of
the
animal!
Lesotho
can
also
offer
items
of
interest
in
the
area
of
fossil
plants.
Here
Heidi
and
John
Anderson
of
the
Botanical
Research
Institute
in
Pretoria
have
provided
the
country
with
a
few
claims
to
fame.
Illustrated
on
the
back
cover
of
the
Palaeobotany
&
Palynology
publication
and
also
reproduced
here
is
Stachyopitys
maziramus
from
the
Molteno
Formation
in
Lesotho.
What
is
shown
enlarged
is
the
male
strobilus
or
fructification
(fruiting
part)
of
the
plant,
attached
to
the
original
bulb,
which
was
about
8
mm
in
diameter.
The
specific
name
is
made
up
of
mazi-,
coming
from
the
place
name
Mazenod
near
where
the
fossil
was
found,
and
-ramus
meaning
stem.
The
Mazenod
specimen
is
the
only
known
example
of
this
species,
and
the
holotype
(specimen
from
which
the
scientific
description
was
made)
is
in
the
National
Herbarium,
Pretoria.
▲back
to top
Two
matching
memorials
were
unveiled
by
Archbishop
Bernard
Mohlalisi
of
the
Catholic
Church
on
Sunday
15
January
2006
near
Ha
Noha
and
Auray
Mission,
both
in
Thaba-Tseka
District.
They
mark
the
places
where
His
Majesty
King
Moshoeshoe
II
and
Queen
'Mamohato
died.
The
unveiling
took
place
on
the
tenth
anniversary
of
the
death
of
King
Moshoeshoe
in
a
road
accident
at
Ha
Noha.
Queen
'Mamohato
died
on
6
September
2003
at
Auray
Mission,
Mantsonyane,
while
attending
a
retreat
of
the
Ladies
of
St
Anne,
a
Catholic
women's
association.
By
a
strange
coincidence
their
places
of
death
were
in
a
direct
line
less
than
8
km
apart.
While
the
monument
to
Queen
'Mamohato
is
in
the
mission
itself,
the
monument
to
King
Moshoeshoe
II
is
in
the
gorge
near
the
spot
where
his
car
fell
after
tumbling
from
the
Mountain
Road.
▲back
to top
A
new
newspaper,
Bang!,
appeared
for
the
first
time
in
mid-January.
It
is
a
popular
16-page
paper
in
colour
and
in
English,
and
comes
from
the
Business
Administration
and
Management
Consultancy,
which
commonly
calls
itself
BAM.
The
editor
of
the
newspaper
is
'Mathabang
Fanyane,
and
frequency
is
fortnightly,
with
five
issues
produced
by
mid-March.
The
newspaper
lists
over
30
outlets
from
Mafeteng
to
Hlotse
where
it
is
on
sale
at
a
price
of
M3.00
per
copy.
▲back
to top
A
full-page
advertisement
in
Public
Eye
of
20
January
2006
contains
a
colour
photograph
of
Colonel
Gadafi
with
a
message
that
the
Libyan
People's
Bureau
of
the
great
socialist
people's
Libyan
Arab
Jamahirya
announces
the
launch
of
a
new
strategic
Project,
the
Al-Gadafi
Project
for
African
youth,
children
and
women.
`As
a
start
of
the
new
Sunny
Year
of
the
birth
of
Christ,
peace
be
upon
him
of
2006,
and
the
new
Sunny
Year
of
the
death
of
the
last
prophet
Mohammed,
peace
be
upon
him
of
13
74,
and
the
appearance
of
the
new
moon
year
of
Immigration
1427
(summer),
the
launch
of
the
strategic
African
project
is
declared.'
`This
will
be
one
of
the
noble
events
that
Libya
through
its
embassy
in
Lesotho
would
like
to
eradicate
the
existing
state
of
emergency
that
Lesotho
is
faced
with
such
as
poverty;
unemployment;
and
escalating
rate
of
HIV/AIDS
orphans.
Women
empowerment
and
the
youth
are
the
major
goals
of
this
proj
ect.'
The
advertisement
goes
on
to
suggest
types
of
developments
which
might
be
supported
including
orphanages
and
halls
for
the
use
of
women
for
both
meeting
and
as
a
workplace.
'...
after
the
needs
of
Basotho
have
been
identified
from
various
communities
and
societies,
international
organisations
will
be
requested
to
take
part
in
this
noble
project.
Organisation
branches
in
different
countries,
societies,
clubs,
banks
that
provide
loans
and
donation
boxes
will
be
established.'
`As
part
of
Libya's
social
responsibility
this
project
is
aimed
at
assisting
all
African
countries....
The
construction
work
will
begin
work
at
the
beginning
of
this
sunny
and
moon
year,
which
in
this
case
is
summer.'
Readers
are
asked
to
submit
their
`village's
or
society's
priority
needs
by
writing
letters'
and
hand
delivering
them
to
the
Libyan
People's
Bureau
in
Maseru.
▲back
to top
Relations
between
staff
and
the
senior
administration
of
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
deteriorated
late
in
2005,
with
further
developments
in
2006.
Late
in
2005,
the
Vice-Chancellor
and
two
other
senior
staff
had
received
death
threats
in
the
form
of
bullets
sent
to
them
accompanied
by
a
rather
illiterate
note.
Meanwhile,
personal
criticism
of
Professor
Mafa
Sejanamane,
the
Acting
ViceChancellor,
was
a
persistent
theme
of
a
column
in
the
newspaper
Public
Eye
written
by
NUL
Development
Studies
Lecturer,
Nthakeng
Selinyane.
Matters
came
to
a
head
when
Selinyane
was
served
with
a
letter
of
dismissal
on
12
December
2005,
to
which
he
reacted
by
getting
a
High
Court
order
the
following
day
to
require
the
University
to
set
aside
its
decision,
pending
a
court
hearing
on
20
February
2006.
As
reported
in
Public
Eye
of
27
January
2006,
the
dismissal
of
Selinyane
was
in
the
meantime
condemned
by
two
NUL
workers'
unions,
the
Lesotho
Teachers'
and
Researchers'
Union
(LUTARU)
and
the
Non-Academic
Workers'
Union
(NAWU).
The
University
Council
discussed
the
uneasy
situation
prevailing
at
the
university
in
its
meeting
at
Roma
held
on
6
February
2006.
It
set
up
a
Special
Sub-Committee
whose
Chairman
was
Councillor
S.
J.
Kao
`to
familiarize
itself
with
the
current
situation,
and
to
submit
a
report
of
its
findings
to
Council'.
The
Sub-Committee
was
given
a
month
to
complete
its
task
and
the
report
was
tabled
at
a
Council
meeting
on
27
March
2006.
Deliberations
on
the
report
were
not
completed
at
the
meeting
and
were
due
to
be
continued
at
a
further
Council
meeting
on
3
April
2006.
▲back
to top
Anton
Rupert,
the
South
African
who
became
a
billionaire
through
his
tobacco
empire,
the
Rembrandt
Group,
died
on
18
January
2006,
aged
89.
His
links
with
Lesotho
began
when
the
then
Prime
Minister,
Leabua
Jonathan,
shortly
after
Independence
asked
him
to
help
establish
a
development
corporation
in
Lesotho.
Anton
Rupert's
response
was
to
send
to
Lesotho
his
second
top
official,
Wynand
van
Graan,
to
be
the
first
managing
director
of
the
Lesotho
National
Development
Corporation,
established
in
1967.
Van
Graan
guided
the
LNDC
through
its
early
years,
and
was
responsible,
for
example,
for
establishing
the
industrial
estate
at
Maputsoe,
which
at
the
time
was
little
more
than
the
sleepy
border
crossing
point
of
Ficksburg
Bridge.
Anton
Rupert
himself
was
an
Afrikaner,
born
in
Graaf
Reinet
in
the
Eastern
Cape,
who
began
as
a
chemistry
lecturer
of
the
University
of
Pretoria,
but
then
went
into
business.
After
an
unpromising
venture
into
the
dry-cleaning
business,
he
realised
that
money
was
to
be
made
in
alcohol
and
tobacco.
He
later
became
not
only
a
billionaire
but
also
a
philanthropist
who
through
the
Anton
Rupert
Foundations
developed
interests
in
preserving
historic
buildings
and
supporting
the
establishment
of
national
parks.
▲back
to top
An
Italian
Bell
412
Lesotho
Defence
Force
helicopter,
LDF
45,
crash
landed
at
Linotsing
in
Mokhotlong
District
on
Monday
23
January
2006.
Although
the
12-seater
plane
was
damaged
beyond
repair,
the
four
people
aboard,
the
pilot,
co-pilot,
technician
and
an
official
from
the
Ministry
of
Education,
all
escaped
with
no
more
than
slight
injuries.
The
plane
had
been
on
a
mission
to
distribute
school
books
to
remote
schools
for
the
new
academic
year.
▲back
to top
In
very
wet
weather,
the
Lerotholi
Polytechnic
celebrated
its
centenary
on
Friday
27
January
2006.
The
main
speaker
at
the
occasion
was
King
Letsie
III,
and
other
speakers
included
the
Minister
of
Education
&
Training,
Mr
Mohlabi
Tsekoa,
and
the
Chairman
of
the
Council
of
the
Polytechnic,
Mr
Matjato
Moteane.
A
commemorative
centenary
monument
was
unveiled.
Funds
for
what
was
then
called
the
Government
Industrial
School
were
originally
collected
by
Paramount
Chief
Lerotholi
in
1898.
The
opening
of
the
school
was
delayed
by
the
Anglo-Boer
War
and
the
school
finally
opened
with
29
students
on
26
January
1906
under
the
Directorship
of
Rev.
Nelson
Fogarty.
The
school
soon
became
known
after
him
as
Ha
Fokothi,
and
the
name
Fokothi
is
still
in
wide
use
for
the
present
institution.
The
pioneer
students
included
6
who
were
training
as
carpenters,
4
training
as
blacksmiths,
5
training
as
`engineers',
5
training
as
wagon
builders
and
6
training
as
builders.
Within
a
few
months
students
were
making
school
furniture,
building
houses,
and
constructing
further
buildings
for
the
Industrial
School
itself.
In
the
first
year,
the
engineering
students
undertook
looking
after
the
Maseru
waterworks,
and
the
School
entered
into
a
contract
with
Central
South
African
Railways
to
supply
the
water
needs
of
the
staff
houses
and
the
steam
locomotives
at
the
Maseru
Railway
Station.
Dolen
Cymru,
the
organization
which
has
linked
Lesotho
and
Wales
for
over
20
years,
sent
out
a
circular
letter
in
English
and
Welsh
on
1
February
2006,
urging
friends
of
the
organisation
to
lobby
Assembly
Members
to
put
forward
Lesotho
as
the
country
to
be
at
the
centre
of
Wales'
international
development
strategy.
The
move
comes
as
the
Welsh
Assembly
Government
inherits
new
powers
in
April
2006
which
will
enable
it
to
contribute
directly
towards
international
development.
▲back
to top
At
the
Lesotho
Congress
for
Democracy's
annual
conference
in
late
January,
the
party's
secretarygeneral,
67-year
old
Sephiri
Motanyane,
announced
that
he
was
not
seeking
re-election.
His
resignation
was
not
on
grounds
of
age,
but
rather
because
he
now
also
holds
the
position
of
Deputy
Speaker
of
the
National
Assembly,
resulting
in
a
possible
conflict
of
interest.
Sephiri
Motanyane
had
been
Secretary-General
since
2001
when
he
took
over
from
the
late
Shakhane
Mokhehle.
In
the
election
for
a
successor,
the
Minister
of
Trade
and
Industry,
Mpho
Malie,
received
1132
votes,
comfortably
beating
Mothetjoa
Metsing
(322)
and
Tsie
Sekoere
(86).
▲back
to top
The
Minister
of
Foreign
Affairs,
Monyane
Moleleki,
was
shot
in
the
arm
in
the
early
hours
of
Sunday
29
January
2006.
He
was
not
seriously
injured
and
was
walking
around
a
few
days
afterwards
with
his
arm
in
a
sling.
However,
the
event
initiated
a
series
of
stories
which
occupied
considerable
column
space
in
local
newspapers
over
the
next
two
months.
Interviewed
by
Public
Eye
soon
after
the
event,
Mr
Moleleki's
sister-in-law,
Dr
Mphu
Ramatlapeng,
said
that
the
incident
had
happened
when
most
of
the
family
was
asleep.
They
had
been
woken
up
by
sudden
gunshots,
and
no
family
member
was
with
Mr
Moleleki
at
the
time.
The
following
week,
Public
Eye
of
10
February
2006,
was
reporting
that
Mr
Moleleki
was
saying
that
the
persons
responsible
for
the
attack
were
members
of
the
ruling
Lesotho
Congress
for
Democracy
party.
The
shooting
had
indeed
taken
place
shortly
after
he
had
returned
from
the
LCD
annual
conference
at
the
'Manthabiseng
Conference
Centre,
where
the
atmosphere
had
apparently
been
tense
as
a
result
of
different
factions
of
the
party
support
different
candidates
for
the
leadership,
should
(as
at
present
seems
unlikely)
the
present
Prime
Minister,
Pakalitha
Mosisili,
step
down.
If
party
internal
rivalries
had
led
to
shooting,
this
was
a
serious
development.
However,
despite
Moleleki's
claim,
the
new
LCD
Secretary-General,
Mpho
Malie,
poured
cold
water
on
these
allegations:
`The
attack
was
non-political.
It
was
merely
a
criminal
attack.'
Rumours
about
what
really
had
happened
were
rife
in
Maseru
and
certainly
did
not
involve
politics,
but
rather
more
personal
matters.
For
example,
Public
Eye
of
17
February
2006
repeated
the
rumour
that
the
shooting
had
not
taken
place
at
his
home
but
at
his
girl
friend's
place.
In
its
issue
of
24
March
2006,
Public
Eye
kept
the
issue
alive
by
reporting
that
Mr
Moleleki
was
apparently
at
loggerheads
with
the
Commissioner
of
Police,
because
he
was
not
willing
to
give
`full'
details
relating
to
the
attack.
▲back
to top
After
a
very
dry
December,
January
made
up
for
it
by
being
an
extremely
wet
month,
and
this
was
followed
by
an
even
wetter
February.
In
Roma,
which
recorded
the
highest
figures
for
the
Lowlands,
there
were
305
mm
of
rain
in
January
and
357
mm
in
February,
and
February
was
the
wettest
month
in
over
70
years
of
records.
The
two
month
total
of
662
mm
was
easily
the
wettest
two
consecutive
months
total
in
Roma
and
almost
without
precedent
in
Lesotho
as
a
whole.
Indeed
it
had
only
been
exceeded
on
one
previous
recorded
occasion,
as
long
ago
as
December
1897
and
January
1898,
when
the
district
surgeon
at
Mafeteng,
Dr
D.
Tomory,
notched
up
153
mm
and
553
mm
in
the
two
consecutive
months
totalling
706
mm.
No-one
now
remembers
January
1898,
but
it
was
an
extraordinarily
wet
month
throughout
Lesotho
and
accounts
of
downpours
and
floods
can
be
found
in
missionary
annals.
In
the
same
month
Moyeni
received
501
mm,
Qacha's
Nek
495
mm,
Hlotse
415
mm,
Mohale's
Hoek
405
mm,
Butha-Buthe
376
and
Teyateyaneng
343
mm.
The
record
for
Maseru
for
the
month
appears
to
be
lost.
The
Mohokare
river
during
February
2006
rose
to
its
highest
level
since
the
first
week
of
January
1934
when,
as
recorded
by
surviving
photographs,
it
had
risen
to
a
depth
of
about
9
metres.
(Rainfalls
for
January
1934
were
between
300
mm
and
350
mm
in
Maseru,
Teyateyaneng,
Hlotse
and
ButhaButhe.)
This
time
its
estimated
depth
was
some
8
metres,
but
even
this
was
sufficient
for
it
to
flood
back
up
the
Mejametalana
valley
below
the
Maqalika
Dam
to
the
1488
m
contour,
covering
the
tarred
road
linking
the
Agricultural
College
area
to
the
suburb
of
Khubetsoana
to
a
depth
of
a
metre.
As
a
result,
for
a
while
traffic
on
this
road
had
to
be
diverted
onto
the
Main
North
road.
Virtually
all
dams
in
Lesotho
overflowed,
the
one
exception
being
the
Katse
Dam,
which
can
take
several
years'
runoff.
Katse
Dam
had
been
only
52%
full
at
the
end
of
the
calendar
year,
as
a
result
of
the
new
instream
flow
requirement
regime,
which
requires
significant
releases
to
keep
the
rivers
healthy
downstream.
It
was,
however,
as
a
result
of
heavy
rains
in
its
catchment
(for
example
354
mm
recorded
at
Oxbow
in
January)
reported
by
early
March
to
be
78%
full.
The
Mohale
Dam
in
the
meantime
overflowed
for
the
first
time
since
it
was
constructed.
This
happened
at
21
00
on
13
February
2006.
At
about
the
same
time,
a
rather
alarming
crack
appeared
in
its
concreted
upstream
face,
and
divers
were
brought
in
to
inspect
it.
They
found
it
to
go
right
down
to
the
base
of
the
dam
wall.
However,
it
was
reported
to
be
a
relatively
superficial
crack
which
could
be
repaired
using
special
concrete
which
could
set
under
water.
Meanwhile
the
level
of
the
Mohale
Dam
was
reduced
by
diverting
water
through
the
transfer
tunnel
to
the
Katse
Reservoir.
There
were
a
number
of
human
tragedies
as
a
result
of
the
rains.
These
included
three
boys
from
Masianokeng
Primary
School
who
drowned
in
a
pool
in
the
Masianokeng
stream,
the
strength
of
which
they
had
foolishly
underestimated.
According
to
The
Mirror
of
1
March
2006,
three
children
had
also
drowned
in
the
Phuthiatsana
river
near
Thaba-Bosiu,
and
two
men
in
the
same
river
near
Mazenod.
A
man
had
also
drowned
in
the
Mpetsana
river
near
Rothe.
Near
Semonkong,
two
policemen
who
had
gone
out
on
horseback
to
investigate
a
dispute
between
neighbouring
villages,
had
to
cross
the
swollen
'Maletsunyane
river.
One
made
it
across,
but
the
other,
Makhetha
Semethe,
was
swept
away.
His
horse
was
later
found
downstream,
but
even
after
two
weeks
his
body
had
not
been
recovered.
It
is
likely
that
in
remote
rural
areas
where
there
are
many
rivers
without
adequate
bridges
there
were
many
other
drownings
which
did
not
get
reported
in
the
press.
Many
thousands
of
houses
weakened
by
rain
suffered
collapsed
walls.
There
were
also
rock
falls
which
caused
damage
and
death
when
boulders
tumbled
from
cliffs
onto
houses.
At
Ha
Tsiu
in
the
suburbs
of
Maseru,
a
mother
and
her
schoolboy
son
died
when
their
house
collapsed
after
being
hit
by
boulders
after
another
house
just
above
them
collapsed.
The
Mpilo
Boulevard,
the
Maseru
inner
relief
road,
which
is
cut
into
the
hillside,
was
at
times
littered
with
rocks
and
dangerously
unusable
on
its
westbound
carriageway.
A
casualty
of
the
rains
was
the
Anglo-Boer
War
fortification
which
stands
in
the
grounds
of
the
Anglican
Cathedral
in
Maseru,
and
which
collapsed
in
February.
The
legal
body
dealing
with
historical
buildings,
the
Protection
&
Preservation
Commission,
is
no
longer
operational,
because
the
Minister
responsible
for
Culture
has
not
nominated
new
members
following
the
expiry
of
the
terms
of
office
of
the
earlier
members.
It
is
therefore
not
clear
whether
any
action
will
be
taken
to
restore
the
fort.
Another
casualty
was
the
road
from
Maseru
to
Roma,
which
was
severed
between
Ha
Motloheloa
and
Ha
Makhalanyane
about
4
km
beyond
Masianokeng,
when
the
culvert
over
the
normally
minor
Ntselle
stream
was
weakened
during
the
89
mm
of
rain
(Roma
figure)
which
fell
on
8
February,
and
then
collapsed
leaving
a
4
metre
wide
gap
during
a
torrential
rainstorm
(36
mm
in
34
minutes
at
Roma)
on
the
afternoon
of
9
February.
A
temporary
diversion
was
created
with
a
single
culvert
about
40
cm
diameter,
so
that
the
road
could
be
reopened
and
used,
except
in
the
event
of
any
further
very
heavy
downpour.
An
alternative
route
to
Roma
via
Ha
Makhoathi
was
out
of
use
for
virtually
the
whole
of
the
months
of
February
and
March.
In
the
absence
of
money
for
a
bridge,
this
road
crosses
the
Phuthiatsana
by
a
piped
causeway
over
which
water
was
flowing
to
a
depth
of
a
half
a
metre
or
more
for
several
weeks
on
end.
During
a
particularly
high
flow,
a
full-sized
willow
tree
was
brought
down
by
the
river
and
was
wedged
against
the
causeway
for
some
days
before
an
even
higher
flow
took
it
downstream
but
replaced
it
with
yet
another
full-sized
willow
tree
which
was
stranded
a
little
way
upstream
in
its
place.
Not
everyone
was
unhappy
about
the
unusually
heavy
rains.
In
the
second
week,
and
several
times
thereafter,
the
Maqalika
Dam
in
Maseru
overflowed.
This
provided
an
easy
opportunity
for
fishermen,
who
caught
large
numbers
of
fish
in
nets
in
the
plunge
pool
between
the
dam
wall
and
the
tailwater
structure.
 Overall,
using
Roma
figures
the
rainfall
for
the
six
months
of
summer
was
1120
mm,
the
second
highest
on
record,
despite
the
month
of
December
being
the
third
driest
on
record.
The
overall
picture
is
given
in
the
chart
which
also
shows
rainfall
for
the
past
30
years
and
also
includes
the
driest
summer
rainfall
on
record
(1932-3
with
just
351
mm)
and
the
wettest
summer
on
record
(2001-2
with
1172
mm).
As
can
be
seen,
summer
rainfall
has
been
above
average
in
seven
of
the
past
ten
years.
Meteorologists,
once
preoccupied
with
rainfall
cycles,
are
now
increasingly
attributing
dry
summers
in
the
high
veld
to
El
Nino
and
wet
summers
to
La
Nina,
collectively
known
as
ENSO,
the
El
Nino/Southern
Oscillation.
When
sea
surface
temperatures
in
the
South
Pacific
are
above
average
they
trigger
the
El
Nino
effect
which
seems
to
have
an
impact
right
across
the
Southern
Hemisphere
and
leads
to
dry
summers
in
Lesotho
with
most
rainfall
coming
from
convective
thunderstorms
blowing
in
from
the
west.
When
this
condition
reverses,
wetter
summers
like
2005-6
occur,
with
typically
rather
less
thunderstorm
activity,
but
rainy
conditions
from
the
north-east
which
can
persist
for
days
on
end.
▲back
to top
Lesotho's
16-seater
minibus
taxis,
mostly
white
in
colour
and
traditionally
anonymous,
have
more
recently
become
increasingly
bestowed
with
monikers.
Thus
one
can
encounter
and
indeed
ride
in
no
less
than
Osama
himself,
and
also
Taliban,
names
no
doubt
adopted
to
catch
the
eye
rather
than
to
seek
an
invitation
to
Guantanamo
Bay.
If
Osama
and
Taliban
are
not
your
cup
of
tea,
you
can
travel
to
Maseru
in
Poison,
Street
Kid,
Dub
Mixer,
Nike,
President,
Scorpion,
Question
One?,
Accessorize,
City
Lights,
Submarine,
Golden
Eye,
Exclusiv
[sic],
Captured
Life,
Back
to
My
Roots,
Knight
Rider,
Earthquake,
Master
Peace
[sic],
Chocolate,
Bass
Head,
Razzmatazz,
Channel
0,
Fong
Kong,
Thunder
Sound,
Jumbo,
Tropical
Heat,
Chamino
Car,
Cheese
Boy,
Sexy
Eyez
[sic],
Section
One
or
Mello
Yellow.
There
are
even
some
taxis
with
names
entirely
in
Chinese
script
which
defeat
the
present
compiler's
powers
of
transcription.
Overall
English
names
dominate,
but
there
are
also
taxis
with
Sesotho
names
such
as
Malito,
Thusang
Batho,
Ntsara
Ntsara,
Phakoe,
Rakapa,
Lefahla,
E-ha-ho-bothata;
and
names
from
other
southern
African
languages,
even
if
not
correctly
spelt,
such
as
Sina
Macozi.
How
do
taxis
get
their
names?
Probably
each
of
them
has
a
tale
to
tell,
but
few
such
tales
will
ever
be
known
at
large,
and
one
can
only
speculate.
Running
around
is
a
taxi
called
Sabbatical
Leave.
Is
the
driver
a
moonlighting
academic
or
perhaps
more
ethically
an
academic
researching
Lesotho's
public
transport
system?
Most
likely
it
is
not
an
academic
at
all,
but
an
overworked
driver
whose
Elysium
would
be
to
have
such
an
academic
perk
as
a
sabbatical
leave.
▲back
to top
Initiation
schools,
particularly
those
for
boys,
have
in
recent
years
greatly
increased
in
numbers.
Their
increase
parallels
the
decline
of
the
migrant
labour
system,
and
the
inevitable
conclusion
is
that
former
mineworkers
who
have
themselves
been
initiated,
are
reviving
a
traditional
institution
as
a
livelihood
for
themselves.
Almost
every
mountain
in
the
Lowlands
is
now
host
to
one
or
more
initiation
schools,
and
has
become
a
no-go
area
for
non-initiates
for
much
of
the
year,
something
which
often
leads
to
misunderstandings
with
tourists.
In
the
past
initiation
schools
were
seasonal,
but
they
now
can
be
found
throughout
the
year.
The
parallel
western
educational
system
introduced
by
missionaries
has
in
recent
years
had
to
come
to
terms
with
these
schools.
In
the
past,
parents
whose
children
attended
initiation
schools
found
themselves
excommunicated
and
their
children
expelled
from
mission
schools.
Today
this
rarely
happens,
and
indeed
some
boys
even
manage
to
attend
traditional
school
in
the
school
holidays.
For
example
Form
C
pupils
writing
Junior
Certificate
in
October
one
year
can
still
enter
Form
D
in
February
the
next
year
after
attending
initiation
school,
particularly
when
initiation
schools
make
themselves
flexible
enough
to
accommodate
such
pupils.
No
statistics
are
available,
but
in
the
recent
past,
probably
less
than
10%
of
boys
were
initiated.
Today
it
may
be
as
high
as
between
20%
and
40%.
Typical
of
the
resurgence
are
schools
in
the
Roma
area
whose
pupils
come
from
a
range
of
educational
backgrounds
from
both
primary
schools,
and
high
schools,
including
those
who
have
just
written
Cambridge
Overseas
School
Certificate,
and
even
some
adult
men.
There
are
stories
that
even
ordained
Catholic
priests
have
attended
such
schools.
Moreover,
some
business
interests
have
even
become
involved,
and
the
MKM
Funeral
Services,
Lesotho's
largest
funeral
company,
has
established
an
initiation
lodge
at
its
extensive
premises
in
the
Maseru
suburb
of
Khubetsoana.
The
schools
these
days
are
often
much
larger
than
in
the
past.
A
graduation
ceremony
at
Ha
Meshaka
near
Roma
in
early
February
2006
had
no
less
than
64
makoloane
or
initiation
school
graduates.
In
the
past
decade,
many
remoter
villages
have
become
deserted
as
people
have
moved
to
more
areas
which
are
more
secure
and
closer
to
services.
Many
of
these
ruined
villages
are
used
by
initiation
schools,
and
indeed
the
Ha
Meshaka
school
had
occupied
the
former
village
of
Ha
Mosollo,
well
known
for
its
cave
dwellings,
where
a
number
of
people
now
living
in
Roma
were
born.
The
school
typically
lasts
at
least
three
and
usually
six
months.
Many
boys,
induced
by
peer
group
pressure,
simply
leave
home
without
even
initially
informing
their
parents
or
guardians.
Often
they
stay
in
a
communal
boys'
residence
or
khotla
until
numbers
are
sufficient
to
move
to
the
mountain
to
build
the
initiation
lodge
or
mophato.
In
contrast
to
the
introduced
system
of
primary
education
which
is
now
free,
school
fees
in
the
traditional
system
can
be
very
high,
sometimes
over
M1000.
In
addition
parents
or
guardians
have
to
provide
a
bag
of
maize
meal,
a
bag
of
cabbage
or
other
vegetables
and
cooking
oil,
and
these
are
left
at
the
house
of
the
Ramophato
or
Initiation
School
Headteacher.
Other
food
called
morifi
is
taken
by
mothers
on
appointed
days
to
a
rendezvous
near
the
mophato.
These
women
must
not
talk
nor
look
back
for
the
whole
journey
towards
the
initiation
lodge.
The
initiation
school
curriculum
is
secret,
and
different
clans
have
different
curricula,
with
persons
of
Nguni
origin
(Matebele)
particularly
having
their
own
schools.
Giving
away
any
initiation
secret
traditionally
incurs
a
fine
of
one
head
of
cattle.
However,
it
is
known
that
initiates
gather
wood
for
fuel,
undergo
ordeals,
learn
traditional
secret
didactic
songs
(likoma),
and
practise
traditional
praise
poetry
to
the
extent
that
they
can
compose
it
themselves.
They
also
receive
initiation
names.
Central
to
the
whole
process
is
circumcision
itself,
carried
out
by
a
skilled
'molotsi
or
circumciser.
Concern
has
been
raised
by
members
of
the
medical
profession
in
recent
years
that
the
process
may
result
in
infections
being
spread
such
as
HIV/AIDS,
and
as
a
result
some
training
has
been
given
to
the
babolotsi
who
have
been
encouraged
to
use
separate
razor
blades
for
each
operation
rather
than
a
communal
blade.
The
Ramophato
informs
the
parents
of
the
day
of
graduation,
and
before
that
day,
the
graduands
have
to
be
provided
with
the
essential
elements
of
graduation
regalia,
which
consist
of
a
leqapa,
a
cotton
undergarment;
a
new
blanket;
gumboots;
giant
blanket
pins;
mirrors;
letsoku
(ochre)
and
sekama
(ilmenite).
The
latter
are
nowadays
mixed
with
commercial
cooking
fat
(Rama)
rather
than
sheep
fat.
Local
storekeepers
and
even
roadside
vendors
in
Maseru,
aware
of
the
market,
can
supply
everything
at
a
price,
even
the
essential
polished
koto
(knobkerrie)
and
molamu
(walking/fighting
stick),
which
are
apparently
no
longer
made
by
the
initiates
themselves.
The
graduation
ceremony
is
a
public
event,
attended
by
parents,
relatives,
friends
and
particularly
girlfriends.
It
is
said
that
the
initiates
arrive
in
the
village
the
day
before
the
graduation
naked
after
dark,
and
stay
in
a
temporary
shelter
adjoining
a
cattle
kraal,
where
they
put
on
their
finery
for
the
graduation
itself.
At
the
ceremony
there
are
speeches,
and
songs
composed
or
learned
at
the
mophato.
A
central
point
is
when
each
of
the
makoloane
or
graduates
displays
his
newly
acquired
skills
of
composing
traditional
poetry
by
reciting
lithoko
in
which
he
praises
himself.
▲back
to top
The
Weekender
supplement
to
Public
Eye
of
3
February
2006
contained
details
and
a
drawing
of
a
proposed
15-storey
office
and
shopping
complex
proposed
for
the
Maseru
Club
site
in
Maseru.
The
architect
is
72-year
old
Ying-Kuei
Hsu,
who
designed
the
Taiwanese
Embassy
in
Kinshasa
and
also
the
ornamental
gateway
to
the
Chinese
Embassy
in
Maseru.
Although
the
article
says
that
Mr
Hsu
hoped
to
start
construction
in
July
and
complete
work
within
two
and
a
half
years,
it
appear
that
the
plans
have
yet
to
be
passed
by
the
Maseru
City
Council's
Director
of
Building
Control.
▲back
to top
As
reported
in
Moeletsi
oa
Basotho
of
12
February
2006,
the
Chief
Justice,
Mr
Mahapela
Lehohla,
spoke
at
the
formal
opening
of
the
High
Court
on
4
February
2006
about
the
closure
of
legal
proceedings
in
some
80%
of
the
currently
pending
cases.
As
is
well
known,
the
legal
system
had
become
so
clogged
with
cases
that
a
large
number
were
still
pending
after
many
years
had
elapsed.
Justice
Lehohla
said
that
since
24
October
2005,
out
of
469
pending
cases,
80%
had
been
closed
without
further
legal
action,
others
had
been
referred
to
the
Labour
or
Commercial
Courts,
while
some
10%
would
be
still
heard
by
the
High
Court.
A
special
working
party
of
15
persons
had
been
detailed
to
give
this
work
priority
and
had
even
been
working
overtime.
Work
was
continuing
on
how
to
dispose
of
more
than
900
additional
pending
cases.
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The
high
school
leaving
examination,
the
Cambridge
Overseas
School
Certificate,
was
written
at
the
end
of
2005
by
a
record
8202
candidates,
a
6.3%
increase
over
the
previous
year.
The
results
published
on
8
February
2006
showed
that
350
candidates
had
achieved
First
Class
passes,
1473
had
achieved
Second
Class
passes
and
2640
Third
Class
passes.
These
represented
slight
percentage
increases
over
the
previous
year
and
in
all
54.8%
of
candidates
achieved
a
School
Certificate,
compared
with
52.6%
the
previous
year.
A
few
schools
had
outstanding
results.
Those
in
which
more
than
a
quarter
of
the
candidates
writing
the
examination
achieved
First
Class
passes
were
Lesotho
High
School
in
Maseru
(53
out
of
182
candidates);
St
Stephen's
High
School
in
Mohale's
Hoek
(40
out
of
116
candidates);
and
Sacred
Heart
High
School
at
St
Monica
in
Leribe
District
(27
out
of
97
candidates).
At
the
other
end
of
the
scale,
Mphaki
High
School
entered
41
candidates
for
the
examination,
and
the
best
performance
was
a
single
candidate
who
achieved
a
Third
Class
pass.
The
best
performance
in
the
country
was
a
`perfect'
aggregate
of
6
achieved
by
Nikhil
Varghese
of
'Maseribane
High
School
in
Quthing
District.
The
best
girl
was
Motema
Letlatsa
of
St
Stephen's
High
School
with
an
aggregate
of
7.
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According
to
Mohahlaula
of
8
February
2006,
two
Lesotho
members
of
the
joint
Lesotho/South
African
Commission
which
oversees
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Water
Project
have
been
charged
with
receiving
bribes
(rather
picturesquely
described
by
the
newspaper
as
masiba
a
limpshe
le
mehololi
('ostrich
and
blue
crane
feathers'))
in
excess
of
M1
million.
They
are
Reatile
Mochebelele,
aged
58,
the
former
senior
Lesotho
member
on
the
Commission
and
his
former
deputy,
Letlafuoa
Molapo,
aged
54,
who
still
serves
on
the
Commission.
Mochebelele
now
lives
in
South
Africa
and
is
an
adviser
on
water
affairs
for
the
New
Partnership
for
Africa's
Development
(NEPAD).
He
is
reported
as
owning
several
properties
in
South
Africa
in
Bloemfontein,
Pretoria
and
Umhlanga
Rocks.
It
appears
that
in
the
forthcoming
case,
Lahmeyer
International,
Germany's
largest
engineering
consultancy,
once
in
the
dock
itself
for
corruption,
will
this
time
turn
the
tables
to
give
evidence
against
the
two
accused.
After
appearing
before
Chief
Magistrate
Molefi
Makara,
the
two
were
remanded
on
bail
until
4
April
2006,
when
it
seems
likely
the
case
will
be
transferred
to
the
High
Court.
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The
annual
Budget
Speech
for
the
2006/2007
Fiscal
Year
was
delivered
in
Parliament
on
8
February
2006
by
the
Honourable
Timothy
T.
Thahane,
Minister
of
Finance
and
Development
Planning.
The
Minister
referred
to
the
annual
estimates
which
now
cover
estimates
for
the
Medium
Term
Expenditure
Framework
and
include
the
years
2007/2008
and
2008/2009
for
a
number
of
key
ministries.
He
reiterated
the
need
to
implement
national
objectives
which
had
been
prepared
as
parts
of
Vision
2020
and
the
Poverty
Reduction
Strategy.
In
particular
these
objectives
are:
-
to
create
jobs
and
generate
income;
-
to
increase
agricultural
production
and
food
security;
-
to
deepen
and
consolidate
democracy,
good
governance,
public
safety,
security
and
accountability
of
the
elected
to
the
electorate;
accountability
of
government
to
Parliament;
and
accountability
of
Public
Servants
to
Cabinet;
-
to
improve
the
quality
and
access
to
education;
-
to
improve
the
quality
and
access
to
health
care;
-
to
manage
and
conserve
the
environment
and
the
soil
of
our
land;
-
to
improve
the
efficiency
and
delivery
of
services
to
the
citizens;
and
-
above
all,
to
intensify
the
fight
against
HIV
and
AIDS,
especially
the
KYS
(Know
Your
Status)
Campaign.
In
relation
to
HIV/AIDS,
reference
was
made
to
recent
developments
including
opening
of
AIDS
clinics
at
all
18
Government
and
Christian
Health
Association
Hospitals;
opening
of
the
Paediatric
Centre
of
Excellence
at
Botsabelo
(with
assistance
from
Bristol
Myers
Squibb
and
the
Baylor
College
of
Medicine);
opening
of
the
AIDS
clinic
at
Leribe
(with
assistance
from
the
Ontario
Hospital
Group);
and
opening
of
the
AIDS
clinic
at
Queen
Elizabeth
II
Hospital
(with
assistance
from
the
Clinton
Foundation).
The
Minister
referred
to
Lesotho's
public
debt
which
had
been
100%
of
the
Gross
Domestic
Product
in
2000/2001,
but
was
now
at
M4.4
billion
only
some
54%
of
the
GDP.
He
referred
also
to
local
elections,
in
which
58%
of
elected
councillors
were
now
women.
Economic
fundamentals
he
considered
remain
sound,
but
the
textile
sector
was
going
through
a
rough
patch.
`Between
1999
and
2004,
textile
exports
in
this
sub-sector
increased
from
about
US$
100
million
to
US$450
million,
and
employment
was
over
50
000
Basotho
workers
at
the
peak
of
our
exports.
However,
this
has
fallen
to
48
000
in
2004;
and
37
500
in
2005....
Many
textile
companies
are
still
here,
but
they
are
struggling.'
He
went
on
to
refer
to
the
need
to
support
the
sector
and
diversify
products,
and
mentioned
that
Lesotho
has
invited
China
to
be
a
partner
in
solving
the
problems
and
generating
jobs.
Tax
policy
and
incentives
were
being
reviewed
to
attract
new
investment
and
to
retain
existing
companies.
In
particular,
the
present
35%
company
tax
was
being
reduced
to
25%
with
effect
from
1
April
2006;
the
preferential
company
tax
for
income
from
manufacturing
and
farming
was
being
reduced
from
15%
to
10%;
and
company
tax
for
exporting
goods
outside
the
Customs
Union
was
being
reduced
to
zero.
This
last
was
especially
designed
to
support
the
recovery
in
the
textile
and
clothing
industry
and
to
encourage
diversification
of
exports.
The
Minister
went
on
to
criticize
the
performance
of
ministries
which
every
year
returned
unspent
funds
because
they
had
been
unable
to
use
them
for
agreed
purposes
during
the
budget
year.
He
noted
that
the
procedures
and
processes
for
supplying
services
for
Government
procurement
and
tendering
are
cumbersome
and
costly.
Moreover
investment
was
impeded
by
the
poor
investment
climate
and
unnecessary
and
slow
processes
in
immigration;
in
company
registration
and
licensing;
in
connecting
electricity,
telephones
and
water;
in
receiving
timely
payments
from
government
including
tax
and
VAT
refunds;
and
in
getting
commercial
and
criminal
cases
heard
and
disposed
of
timeously.
Examples
were
given
of
improvements
which
would
aid
the
investment
climate
including
reducing
the
time
taken
to
register
a
company
from
92
days
to
under
a
week;
and
reducing
the
564
hours
it
takes
to
pay
taxes
to
less
than
24
hours.
He
went
on
to
describe
at
some
length
new
forms
of
fraud
which
in
the
past
few
months
had
been
used
by
crime
syndicates
which
were
recycling
government
and
private
business
cheques
already
paid
to
be
repaid
again.
These
syndicates
were
operating
across
borders,
and
it
was
indicated
that
it
was
necessary
to
strengthen
cooperation
between
law
enforcement
organs;
between
the
South
African
Revenue
Service
and
the
Lesotho
Revenue
Authority;
between
the
Financial
Intelligence
Unit
and
the
Treasury
Investigation
Unit;
and
between
the
South
African
Scorpions
and
Lesotho's
Directorate
for
Corruption
and
Economic
Offences.
Parliament
would
also
be
asked
to
pass
an
Anti-Money
Laundering
Law
before
mid-year
which
would
have
asset
forfeiture
clauses.
Overall
the
budget
proposes
ministerial
allocations
of
M4
907
million
(M3
655
recurrent,
M1252
million
capital)
and
M859
million
statutory
expenditure
(including
loan
repayments
M326
million,
interest
charges
M206
million,
pensions
and
gratuities
M296
million,
statutory
salaries
M13
million
and
subscriptions
to
international
organisations
M16
million).
The
expenditure
is
to
be
financed
by
an
estimated
MS
352
million
domestic
revenue,
donor
grants
of
M430
million
and
loans
of
M297
million.
The
MS
352
million
domestic
revenue
is
made
up
of
M3
088
million
customs
revenue,
income
tax
of
M893
million,
value
added
tax
of
M693
million,
other
tax
revenue
of
M121
million
and
non-tax
revenue
of
M558
million
(M250
million
of
which
is
from
royalties
from
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Water
Project).
(There
was
no
mention
of
increasing
the
14%
value
added
tax
(VAT)
in
the
budget,
even
though
the
South
African
Finance
Minister
in
his
budget
in
the
same
month
increased
the
rate
in
South
Africa
from
14%
to
15%.)
Overall
the
budget
proposes
a
surplus
of
M277.8
million
or
2.8%
of
the
Gross
Domestic
Product.
In
the
2005/2006
budget,
there
had
been
four
areas
of
challenge,
and
in
the
2006/2007
budget
there
are
five
areas
of
focus,
three
of
which
are
similar
to
those
in
the
2005/2006
budget
(the
fourth
2005/2006
challenge
had
been
to
make
the
private
sector
a
real
engine
for
rapid
acceleration
of
growth,
creation
of
jobs
and
reduction
of
poverty).
The
first
of
the
2006/2007
areas
of
focus
is
infrastructure
development
and
supporting
services,
of
which
the
lion's
share
of
M272.2
million
of
the
recurrent
budget
is
allocated
to
the
Ministry
of
Local
Government,
up
by
97.0%
from
M138.2
million
the
previous
year.
Within
the
same
area
of
infrastructure
development
and
supporting
services,
the
Ministry
of
Public
Works
and
Transport
is
allocated
M128.7
million,
compared
to
M126.9
million
the
previous
year;
the
Ministry
of
Natural
Resources
is
allocated
M50.6
million,
down
from
M51.5
million
the
previous
year;
and
the
Ministry
of
Communications,
Science
&
Technology
is
allocated
M47.4
million,
up
from
M40.7
million
the
previous
year.
The
second
area
of
focus
is
to
improve
health
services
at
clinic
and
hospital
levels.
The
Ministry
of
Health
and
Social
Welfare
is
allocated
M386.5
million
in
its
recurrent
budget
up
by
20.4%
from
the
previous
year's
allocation
of
M321.1
million.
Its
capital
budget
allocation
is
also
increased
from
M51.6
million
to
M79.8
million.
The
third
area
of
focus
is
the
Ministry
of
Education
&
Training,
with
the
allocation
particularly
designed
for
continuing
and
completing
the
free
primary
education
programme.
The
allocation
is
M927.4
million,
up
by
10.2%
from
M841.9
million
the
previous
year.
The
Ministry
of
Agriculture
and
Food
Security
is
the
fourth
area
of
focus
and
in
particular
[despite
their
poor
past
record]
irrigation
schemes
are
mentioned
coupled
with
intensive
demonstration
and
extension
services.
However,
the
budget
allocation
is
only
M106.1
million,
down
by
13.5%
from
the
previous
year's
allocation
of
M122.6
million.
The
last
area
of
focus
is
reforms
in
public
financial
management.
These
relate
to
the
Ministry
of
Finance
and
Development
Planning
for
which
the
recurrent
budget
is
M532.1
million,
up
by
8.6%
from
M490.0
million
the
previous
year.
Overall,
the
largest
of
the
recurrent
2006/2007
budget
allocations
correspond
to
22.1
%
of
the
total
to
Education
&
Training
(down
from
23.2%
in
2005/2006);
12.7%
to
Finance
&
Development
Planning
(13.5%);
9.2%
to
Health
&
Social
Welfare
(8.8%);
7.1%
to
Pensions
&
Gratuities
(7.7%);
6.5%
to
Local
Government
(3.8%);
5.9%
to
Defence
&
National
Security
(6.0%);
and
5.0%
to
Home
Affairs
&
Public
Safety
(5.4%).
Amongst
other
announcements
were
that
M30
million
was
awarded
as
a
first
instalment
for
building
new
Houses
of
Parliament,
and
that
there
would
be
an
overall
5%
rise
in
the
salaries
of
civil
servants
to
meet
an
average
4.6%
inflation
rate
`during
the
last
fiscal
year'
[apparently
the
computation
was
done
for
May
2004
to
April
2005].
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< |
