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Summary
of
Events
in
Lesotho
Volume 13,
Number
3, (Third 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.
Death
of
Chieftainess
’Mamathe
Gabashane
Masupha
Death
of
Father
Denis
O’Callaghan
OMI,
Veteran
Irish
Priest
Researcher
Reports
on
Village
Changes
over
28-year
Period
Furore
as
Imperial
Fleet
Services
Sells
Cars
to
Cabinet
Ministers
at
Greatly
Discounted
Prices
New
Monuments
and
Protected
Fauna
and
Flora
Gazetted
Former
Bishop
Appointed
as
Anglican
Vicar-General
Sani
Pass
to
be
Tarred
French
Police
Train
LMPS
in
Riot
Control
Bill
Gates
and
Bill
Clinton
Together
Pay
One-Day
Visit
to
Lesotho
Formal
Traders
Forced
to
Close
after
Informal
Traders
find
Goods
Removed
Overnight
LDF
Officers
in
Darfur
Return;
One
faces
Possible
Lesotho
Murder
Charge
King
Letsie
III
Distributes
Birthday
Honours
Banks
Amalgamate
Yellowfish
Invade
Maloti
Minnow
Territory
Street
Lighting
to
be
Installed
in
Roma
Report
on
Human
Rights
in
Textile
Industry
Published
Full
Obituary
of
Bereng
Sekhonyana
Published
in
Hansard
Police
Charge
Members
of
the
Lekhanya
Family
and
Father
Lehloka
for
Unlicensed
Weapons
New
Durham
Link
Building
Opened
in
Maseru
Mosotho
Opens
Lesotho’s
First
Sound
Recording
Studio
Supplementary
Estimates
Debated
in
Parliament
and
Passed
Transformation
Resource
Centre
Hosts
Book
Launch
Lesotho
to
Acquire
30%
Share
in
Letšeng
Mine
as
it
Changes
Hands
National
Assembly
Photocopier
Makes
News
and
Leads
to
Court
Case
August
Snowfall
leads
to
Deaths
and
Severe
Disruption
of
Life
in
the
Maloti
Ski
Resort
Opens
at
Mahlasela
Murder
Suspect
Burnt
to
Death
by
Villagers
Lesotho
Commissioner
of
Police
Adds
Additional
Responsibilities
Kao
Mining
Project
Goes
Ahead
SADC
Holds
Summit
in
Maseru;
Prime
Minister
Mosisili
Becomes
Chairman
Government
Allowances
to
Students
at
NUL
Being
Paid
Monthly
not
Annually
Causes
Unrest
BNP
Faction
Elects
its
own
Executive
Deputy
Principal
Secretary
Commits
Suicide
Morija
Museum
&
Archives
Celebrates
50
Years
Urban
Boundary
Changes
Proposed
Six
Convicted
of
Factory
Manager’s
Murder
Public
Eye
Profiles
Speaker
of
National
Assembly
Taxi
Fares
Rise
NUL’s
First
Vice-Chancellor
Documents
his
Experiences
Leprosy
no
longer
a
Significant
Health
Problem;
Botšabelo
now
Site
of
Other
Health
Projects
University
Interregnum
Soon
to
End
Death
Sentence
Passed
on
Murderer
Impregilo
Pleads
Guilty
to
Bribery
and
Agrees
to
a
Fine
of
M15
million
New
Principal
Chief
of
Tsikoane
&
Kolobere
Place
What
Happens
after
AZ999?
New
National
Flag
Passed
by
Parliament
University
Hosts
31st
Graduation
Ceremony
Inflation
Jumps
Upwards
into
the
6%
to
7%
Band
The
death
was
announced
in
June
2006
of
Chieftainess
’Mamathe
Gabashane
Masupha
at
the
age
of
88.
As
reported
in
Mohahlaula
of
29
June
2006,
a
very
large
funeral
was
held
at
Ha
’Mamathe
in
Berea
District
on
25
June
2006.
Chieftainess
’Mamathe
had
the
misfortune
that
her
husband,
Principal
Chief
Gabashane
Masupha,
had
been
hanged
by
the
British
Colonial
Administration
in
1949
for
medicine
murder.
The
heir,
David
Masupha
was
then
a
small
child,
and
Chieftainess
’Mamathe
had
acted
for
a
long
time
as
Principal
Chief
of
Ha
’Mamathe
until
their
son
had
been
able
to
assume
office
as
Principal
Chief
of
the
Lioli,
as
the
people
of
the
’Mamathe
Ward
(and
their
football
team)
are
known.
Tragedy
seems
to
have
dogged
the
family,
because
their
son,
Principal
Chief
David
Gabashane
Masupha
died
in
hospital
after
a
road
accident
on
the
evening
of
Saturday
10
August
1996.
He
was
succeeded
by
his
widow
Chieftaines
'Mampota
Masupha
also
known
as
Chieftainess
'Masenate
David
Gabashane
Masupha.
Chieftainess
’Mamathe
was
the
daughter
of
Chief
Lebona
Nkhahle
Mohale
of
Mohale’s
Hoek.
She
was
thus
a
descendant
of
King
Moshoeshoe’s
younger
brother,
while
her
husband
was
a
direct
descendant
of
King
Moshoeshoe
through
one
of
his
best-known
sons,
Masupha.▲back
to top
Father
Denis
O’Callaghan,
who
had
worked
in
Lesotho
for
58
years,
died
on
1
July
2006
at
the
Oblate
House,
Maseru,
at
the
age
of
85.
A
short
obituary
notice
appeared
in
Moeletsi
oa
Basotho
of
9
July
2006.
Father
Denis
was
born
in
Waterford,
Ireland,
on
1
March
1921,
and
studied
at
Cork
University
and
the
National
University
of
Ireland
in
Dublin.
He
entered
the
missionary
order
of
Oblates
of
Mary
Immaculate
in
1942,
taking
his
final
vows
in
1946,
and
was
ordained
priest
on
21
December
1947.
In
1948,
he
received
an
obedience
to
work
in
Lesotho,
where
his
first
assignment
was
to
teach
English
at
St
Theresa’s
Seminary.
Later
he
was
assigned
to
work
at
more
than
12
different
missions
in
Lesotho,
some
of
them
extremely
remote,
like
the
missions
at
Lesobeng,
Semonkong
and
Ketane
(Mofumahali
oa
Maloti).
At
the
age
of
70,
he
took
on
the
work
of
Catholic
Chaplain
to
Queen
Elizabeth
II
Hospital
in
Maseru
and
he
was
still
visiting
patients
daily
until
the
time
he
died.
On
13
June
2006,
only
three
weeks
before
his
death,
he
was
at
a
reception
in
the
Lesotho
Sun
for
the
President
of
Ireland.
In
her
speech,
President
Mary
McAleese,
specifically
mentioned
him
as
one
of
the
devoted
missionaries
who
had
given
his
life
to
working
in
Lesotho.
▲back
to top
Stephen
Turner
lived
for
over
a
year
in
1976-7
in
the
Lesotho
Foothills
village
of
Ha
Tumahole
near
Ha
Ntsi
undertaking
research
for
what
became
a
massive
578
page
1978
PhD
thesis
at
the
School
of
Oriental
and
African
Studies
in
London.
Its
title
was
Sesotho
farming;
the
condition
and
prospects
of
agriculture
in
the
Lowlands
and
Foothills
of
Lesotho.
It
was
a
wide-ranging
thesis
documenting
in
meticulous
detail
village
life
and
farming
practices
and
also
documenting
agricultural
projects
sponsored
by
the
government
and
donors,
almost
all
of
which
failed.
On
government
intervention
in
agriculture
he
concluded:
‘There
has
been
little
continuity
in
personnel
or
ideas
so
that
agricultural
policy
has
been
haphazard
and
inconsistent.
Projects
have
been
suddenly
abandoned
and
others
just
as
suddenly
started;
some
have
been
neglected
and
many
new
ideas
have
been
discussed
and
then
forgotten.
Mistakes
have
also
been
forgotten
and
then
repeated.’
His
thesis
unfortunately
became
known
only
to
a
relatively
small
number
of
scholars.
If
it
had
been
published
in
book
form
suitably
abridged
it
might
have
influenced
the
many
other
agricultural
projects
during
the
following
two
decades
which
also
failed.
The
organization
CARE
has
recently
been
interested
in
agriculture
and
has
established
a
Livelihoods
Recovery
through
Agriculture
Programme
(LRAP).
In
2004
it
sponsored
Stephen
Turner
to
return
to
Ha
Tumahole,
where
he
noted
the
changes
and
made
recommendations
on
policy
for
the
programme.
The
resulting
report
has
now
emerged
and
is
a
rare
example
of
a
comparative
study
of
the
same
village
over
a
significant
time
span.
Turner
notes
that
in
many
ways
the
standard
of
living
at
Ha
Tumahole
has
risen
since
1977
in
the
sense
that
villagers
own
more
farm
implements
and
furniture,
and
have
better
clothes
and
shoes.
Crop
yields
have
not
risen
substantially
but
seem
not
to
have
fallen.
Clean
water
is
now
available
through
standpipes
and
over
half
of
households
now
own
a
latrine.
A
few
homesteads
have
impressively
large
houses
with
solar
panels
and
comparatively
large
numbers
of
livestock
and
fine
gardens
with
fruit
trees
and
vegetables;
and
a
few
privileged
people
cook
with
gas.
Mobile
phones
would
have
seemed
like
science
fiction
back
in
1977,
but
are
now
owned
by
13%
of
households.
Of
the
interviewed
households,
17%
were
considered
‘well-off’,
25%
‘medium’,
45%
‘poor’,
and
13%
‘very
poor’.
However,
in
other
ways,
Ha
Tumahole
seemed
poorer
or
more
vulnerable.
The
backbone
of
the
village
economy
had
been
lost
as
opportunities
to
work
in
the
South
African
mines
had
dropped
to
negligible
levels.
Young
people
had
little
prospect
of
employment
or
significant
income
unless
they
were
‘lucky’
enough
to
get
work
for
long
hours
at
minimal
wages
in
a
Maseru
factory.
The
apparent
decline
or
deferment
of
marriage
was
an
ominous
signal.
Many
young
people
could
not
afford
to
marry,
and
those
of
the
younger
generation
who
had
established
households
were
often
living
with
minimal
resources,
sustained
to
some
extent
by
their
parents
or
other
older
relatives.
Broken
marriages
or
relationships
were
common
causing
women
to
return
home
with
their
children
or
to
send
children
home
while
they
lived
separate
lives
in
town.
The
economic
and
social
burdens
on
the
elderly
were
increasing
as
some
of
the
middle
generation
died
leaving
child
care
and
its
many
costs
to
the
grandparents.
The
capital
of
the
older
generation
accrued
during
earlier
careers
as
migrant
workers
was
for
the
time
being
a
mainstay
of
the
economy,
but
this
capital
was
being
rapidly
exhausted
and
there
was
no
prospect
of
it
being
replaced.
Some
of
those
in
big
houses
had
already
exhausted
their
capital
and
were
living
in
poverty.
Apart
from
burial
societies
(very
much
more
active
than
in
1977)
and
football
clubs
(a
new
feature
since
1977),
the
institutional
landscape
at
Ha
Tumahole
was
found
to
be
desolate.
The
village
was
still
without
a
primary
school
and
public
transport.
It
was
suffering
from
lack
of
local
government
and
less
respect
for
law
and
order,
with
theft
of
livestock
and
all
forms
of
moveable
property
rampant.
HIV/AIDS
was
having
an
impact
so
that
those
who
were
not
killed
by
the
disease
were
still
being
made
much
poorer
by
it.
Amongst
problems
mentioned
by
households,
37%
mentioned
illness,
27%
poverty,
26%
hunger,
22%
theft
and
18%
death
of
family
members.
School
fees,
which
in
the
past
were
a
serious
problem,
are
less
problematic
with
the
advent
of
free
primary
education.
However
15%
of
families
still
mentioned
it
as
a
problem
because
they
had
children
of
secondary
school
age.
Sharecropping
and
shared
ploughing
arrangements
were
at
similar
levels
to
those
of
28
years
earlier,
but
the
letsema
or
work
party
had
practically
disappeared.
Many
other
traditional
activities
had
disappeared
but
initiation
schools
for
boys
and
girls
had
undergone
a
resurgence.
The
one
new
institutional
innovation
is
the
HIV/AIDS
Support
Group,
one
of
many
recently
established
in
Lesotho
villages,
although
at
the
time
of
the
research
no
training
had
yet
been
provided.
Stephen
Turner
and
his
family
now
live
in
the
Netherlands,
where
he
works
for
the
Free
University
in
Amsterdam.
He
does,
however,
frequently
undertake
consultancy
work
in
Lesotho,
where
he
spent
part
of
his
childhood,
and
where
his
wife,
Monono
Matšaba,
was
born.
She
has
provided
a
translation
into
Sesotho
of
the
preface
and
part
of
the
introduction
to
the
new
report
which
was
issued
after
comments
and
additional
information
had
been
received
on
the
draft
report
from
Chief
Tumahole
Theko
of
Ha
Tumahole.
The
report
includes
a
number
of
colour
photographs,
some
of
which
are
of
the
same
village
views
taken
28
years
apart.
▲back
to top
A
story
which
attracted
a
great
deal
of
newspaper
comment
from
June
onwards,
and
was
still
bouncing
around
in
several
newspapers
and
their
correspondence
columns
in
September,
related
to
Imperial
Fleet
Services,
which
has
the
contract
to
provide
official
transport
for
government.
Imperial
offered
to
sell
high
value
vehicles,
which
had
only
been
in
use
for
a
period
of
approximately
three
years,
to
cabinet
ministers
and
principal
secretaries
at
1%
of
their
original
value.
Commentators
described
the
deal
as
obviously
intended
to
ensure
that
the
government
contract
with
Imperial
Fleet
Services
was
renewed.
The
Law
Society,
as
reported
in
Public
Eye
of
28
July
2006,
condemned
the
transaction
as
smacking
of
bribery,
and
warned
members
of
the
judiciary
not
to
accept
a
similar
offer.
Many
weeks
later,
journalists
were
still
writing
about
the
matter
as
showing
corruption
at
the
highest
level.
It
was
also
raised
in
the
Senate
by
Chief
Khoabane
Theko
in
searching
questions
to
the
Minister
of
Finance
during
the
debate
on
the
Supplementary
Appropriation
(2006/2007)
Bill
(Senate
Hansard
of
Tuesday
9
August
2006).
Cabinet
members
also
defended
themselves,
both
through
a
press
conference
and
on
television,
although
this
did
little
to
convince
the
press
of
their
probity.
However,
it
also
became
apparent
that
it
was
difficult
to
discover
that
anything
illegal
had
transpired,
because
a
vendor
can
choose
to
sell
to
anyone
at
any
agreed
price.
Meanwhile
past
transactions
with
Imperial
Fleet
Services
were
under
scrutiny
by
the
Public
Accounts
Committee
which
was
scrutinizing
the
Auditor-General’s
report
on
the
public
accounts
for
the
2002/3
Financial
Year
(the
most
recent
audited
accounts
available).
According
to
the
Chairman
of
the
Committee,
Dr
Leketekete
Ketso,
as
quoted
in
Public
Eye
of
18
August
2006,
there
had
been
M30
million
in
unauthorised
government
expenditure
on
vehicle
maintenance
costs.
▲back
to top
Legal
Notice
No.
81
of
2006
published
in
Lesotho
Government
Gazette
no.
38
of
7
July
2006
contains
a
numbered
list
of
protected
monuments,
protected
flora
and
protected
fauna.
The
list
is
made
in
terms
of
the
Proclamation
of
Relics,
Fauna
and
Flora
Act
1967.
An
earlier
Legal
Notice
(no.
36
of
1969)
had
proclaimed
nine
Monuments,
including
the
Ha
Baroana
(Ha
Khotso)
rock
painting
site,
the
fossil
footprints
at
Moyeni,
the
top
of
Thaba-Bosiu
Fortress
and
Major
Bell’s
Tower
at
Hlotse.
The
new
list,
numbered
10
to
37
is
wide
ranging
but
very
short
on
detail,
being
just
a
list
of
names
with
districts.
It
would
have
helped
if
the
significance
of
each
item
on
the
list
had
been
pointed
out.
While
no.
10,
Botha-Bothe
Plateau
and
no.
12,
Liphofung
Cultural
and
Heritage
Site
will
be
known
to
many,
the
significance
of
no.
19
Bokhopa
Peak
and
no.
21
Litemekoaneng
is
far
from
obvious.
Amongst
other
monuments
gazetted
are
St
Saviour’s
Church
(no.
20)
in
Hlotse
(too
late
for
the
original
St
Saviour’s
which
was
demolished
three
years
ago);
Fika-le-Mohala
(no.
22),
the
well-known
pitso
ground
of
the
colonial
period,
half
way
between
Maseru
and
Matsieng;
and
Makoanyane
Square
(no.
23),
the
former
Hobson’s
Square
which
contains
the
ruins
of
the
old
post
office
destroyed
in
the
1998
disturbances
and
also
has
the
national
war
memorials.
Some
of
the
monuments
such
as
the
’Maletsunyane
Falls
(no.
24),
Qalabane
Mountain
(no.
28,
site
of
a
famous
battle
in
the
Gun
War),
and
Thabana-Ntlenyana
(no.
34)
would
hardly
seem
to
need
protection;
while
others
are
given
in
such
vague
terms,
e.
g.
Old
graves
of
national
heroes
(Maseru
District)
(no.
26),
that
one
wonders
exactly
which
graves
are
intended.
There
is
in
fact
no
attempt
to
give
precise
grid
references
or
the
boundaries
of
any
of
the
listed
monuments.
It
is
good
to
see
the
intention
to
preserve
All
old
churches/all
Gov.
buildings
[100
years
old]
(Maseru
District)
(no.
25).
But
what
about
other
districts?
The
1853
Church
at
Hermon
was
demolished
in
the
late
1980s,
but
the
1859
Church
remains,
after
the
church
at
Morija,
as
the
second
oldest
church
in
Lesotho.
Hermon,
however,
is
in
Mafeteng
District,
so
at
present
is
not
covered
by
the
list.
Following
the
list
of
Monuments,
there
is
a
list
of
three
items
of
Protected
Flora.
The
1969
list
was
numbered
1
to
13,
and
the
new
items
are
numbered
14
to
16.
It
seems
to
have
been
overlooked
that
Legal
Notice
No.
93
of
2004
had
already
added
18
items
of
protected
flora,
numbered
14
to
31.
The
three
new
items
of
protected
flora
are
Boophane
disticha,
a
distinctive
fan-like
plant
used
in
circumcision
rites;
Aponogeton
ranunculiflorus,
the
Sehlabathebe
‘water-lily’,
a
near
endemic;
and
Merxmuellera
macowanii
[misspelt
macowanni
in
the
Gazette],
the
extremely
common
broom
grass,
moseha,
of
the
Maloti.
This
grass
is
cut
regularly
and
provides
a
livelihood
to
numerous
people
in
the
Maloti.
It
is
rather
extraordinary
that
it
should
be
protected,
given
that
harvesting
the
plant
does
not
destroy
it.
The
third
list
is
of
Protected
Fauna
with
four
protected
species.
Of
these
no.
17
is
the
Klipspringer,
sekome
in
Sesotho,
which
has
already,
but
ineffectually,
been
protected
by
law
as
far
back
as
1907,
and
is
already
also
covered
by
‘all
antelopes
and
bucks’,
no.
1
on
the
1969
list.
The
Klipspringer
was
formerly
more
widespread
because
there
are
villages
with
the
name
Likomeng,
‘place
of
klipspringers’
in
Mokhotlong
and
Thaba-Tseka
Districts.
However,
in
the
past
50
years,
there
seem
to
have
only
been
two
records,
both
of
which
were
animals
which
had
apparently
come
briefly
into
Sehlabathebe
National
Park
from
South
Africa.
No.
18
says
All
species
of
Rock
Dassie
(Procavia
capensis).
However,
there
is
just
one
species,
Procavia
capensis
itself,
the
species
mentioned
in
the
Proclamation.
It
is
relatively
common
in
Lesotho,
although
not
as
common
as
in
adjoining
parts
of
South
Africa,
because
in
Lesotho
it
is
hunted.
No.
19
is
the
Maloti
Minnow,
which
is
an
obvious
candidate
for
protection,
because
it
is
Lesotho’s
only
endemic
vertebrate
species.
However,
in
the
list
the
specific
name
is
misspelt,
and
it
is
described
as
an
amphibian,
when
it
is
of
course
a
fish!
Finally
no.
20
is
the
Umbraculate
Frog,
Rana
vertebralis.
This
one
is
at
least
an
amphibian,
but
there
seems
to
be
some
confusion
here.
The
Umbraculate
Frog,
once
known
as
Rana
umbraculata
and
later
as
Rana
vertebralis
has
since
1987
been
known
as
Amietia
vertebralis,
and
is
generally
now
known
as
the
Giant
Water
Frog.
It
appeared
in
the
1988
Red
Data
Book
as
Restricted,
but
this
was
simply
because
there
were
few
records.
It
was
later
found
to
be
abundant
throughout
the
Maloti
in
streams
from
about
1800
m
to
3000
m.
As
a
result
it
was
downgraded
in
the
2004
Red
Data
Book
to
‘Least
Concern’,
so
there
is
no
need
to
consider
it
as
a
protected
species.
The
name
‘Umbraculate
Frog’
comes
from
it
possessing
a
distinctive
umbraculum
or
translucent
structure
in
the
corner
of
its
eye.
▲back
to top
Rev.
Philip
Mokuku,
a
former
Anglican
Bishop
of
Lesotho,
was
appointed
in
July
by
the
Archbishop
of
Cape
Town
as
Vicar-General
of
the
Lesotho
Diocese.
He
will
presumably
hold
this
position
until
it
is
thought
appropriate
to
hold
an
election
for
the
new
Bishop,
a
position
recently
mired
by
controversy.
▲back
to top
As
reported
in
Maloti
News
of
30
June
2006,
Sani
Pass
is
to
be
tarred
in
a
series
of
stages
planned
to
be
completed
by
2009.
In
mid-July,
a
sod-turning
ceremony
marking
the
beginning
of
the
project
was
attended
by
the
Lesotho
Transport
Minister,
Popane
Lebesa,
and
the
South
African
Environmental
Affairs
Minister,
Marthinus
van
Schalkwyk,
at
the
Sani
Top
Chalets
on
the
Lesotho
border
at
the
summit
of
Sani
Pass,
2874m
above
sea
level.
The
new
road
will,
amongst
other
things,
help
to
facilitate
co-operation
across
Lesotho’s
eastern
border
where
Lesotho
and
South
Africa
are
now
closely
linked
by
the
Maloti/Drakensberg
Transfrontier
Project,
a
project
promoting
sustainable
development
for
the
communities
on
both
sides
of
the
border.
 
The
tarred
road,
however,
will
not
reach
Sani
Top
for
some
time.
The
project
is
planned
in
three
phases.
In
the
first,
tarring
will
take
place
on
the
14
km
stretch
between
the
Himeville
turnoff
and
the
former
Good
Hope
Store.
Phase
Two
will
continue
the
tarring
to
the
present
South
African
Border
Post
at
the
foot
of
the
steepest
section
of
the
pass.
Finally
Phase
Three
will
provide
a
tarred
surface
up
the
sixteen
hairpin
bends
(some
of
which
may
be
eliminated
or
modified)
of
the
steepest
8
km
of
the
pass
to
the
summit
at
Sani
Top,
the
site
of
the
present
Lesotho
Border
Post.
Beyond
that,
the
49
km
gravel
section
from
Sani
Top
to
the
existing
tarred
road
to
Mokhotlong
crosses
the
3240m
high
Kotisephola
Pass,
often
blocked
by
snow
in
winter.
It
is
known
that
Lesotho
is
endeavouring
to
find
funds
for
also
tarring
this
stretch
of
road.
It
seems
possible
that
by
2009
tar
will
be
available
along
the
whole
of
what
is
commonly
known
as
the
Roof
of
Africa
Road
from
Butha-Buthe
through
Oxbow
past
the
Letšeng
Diamond
Mine
and
the
Mokhotlong
turnoff
at
Thabang
to
Sani
Pass.
The
Sani
Pass,
the
only
road
connection
between
KwaZulu-Natal
and
Lesotho,
has
long
been
legendary
as
a
test
for
motor
vehicles.
It
is
not
for
nothing
that
Nissan
South
Africa
called
its
luxury
4x4
vehicle
the
Nissan
Sani.
The
pass
first
came
into
use
in
the
1890s
after
Chief
Rafolatsane
Letsie,
a
son
of
Paramount
Chief
Letsie,
was
placed
in
what
became
the
Mokhotlong
District
to
administer
an
area
first
settled
by
Batlokoa
and
later
by
other
Basotho
in
the
1880s.
The
name
Sani
is
in
fact
a
shortening
and
Zulu
influenced
form
of
Rafolatsane’s
name,
because
the
pass
first
came
into
use
in
the
late
1890s
as
an
easier
way
to
get
goods
to
Rafolatsane’s
place
than
the
long
trek
from
the
Lowlands.
Mokhotlong,
founded
as
a
police
post
in
1905
(it
forgot
to
celebrate
its
centenary
last
year!),
was
long
famed
for
its
remoteness,
although
an
aircraft
first
managed
to
land
there
in
1940,
and
a
regular
twice
weekly
postal
air
service
was
inaugurated
on
2
June
1950.
The
aircraft
had
one
spare
seat,
which
could
be
booked
through
the
Maseru
postmaster.
Meanwhile,
the
first
ascent
of
Sani
Pass
had
been
achieved
by
a
jeep
in
May
1948,
and
a
year
later
a
jeep
service
from
Sani
Top
to
Mokhotlong
was
undertaken
regularly,
although
goods
were
still
taken
up
the
main
steep
Sani
Pass
by
donkey.
Mokhotlong
Mountain
Transport,
based
in
Himeville,
was
founded
in
1955
and
was
able
to
provide
a
through
service
using
ex-army
lorries
which
had
to
reverse
several
times
to
get
round
the
steep
bends
of
the
pass.
There
is
to
this
day
a
ban
on
two-wheel
drive
vehicles
ascending
the
pass,
but
this
may
soon
be
a
thing
of
the
past,
with
saloon
cars
able
to
climb
by
a
road
which,
however
engineered,
will
never
be
less
than
spectacular.
▲back
to top
As
reported
and
illustrated
in
Leseli
ka
Sepolesa
of
14
July
2006,
a
four-day
training
was
held
in
Lesotho
from
4
to
7
July
2006
under
Lieutenant-Colonel
Richard
Caminade
of
the
French
police.
32
members
of
the
Lesotho
Mounted
Police
Service
participated,
and
the
training
was
designed
to
show
the
correct
way
to
control
crowds
and
disturbances.
At
the
close
of
the
course
a
demonstration
was
given
of
the
skills
acquired.
Lieutenant-Colonel
Caminade
ended
the
course
with
the
message:
‘If
you
want
to
be
respected
by
your
people,
try
by
all
means
to
exercise
appropriate
restraint’.
He
also
reminded
them
that
they
acted
on
behalf
of
the
Government
and
the
Commissioner
of
Police.▲back
to top
Residents
of
western
Lesotho
were
surprised
on
Wednesday
12
July
to
see
three
jet
aircraft
flying
low
over
Lesotho
and
landing
in
quick
succession
at
Moshoeshoe
I
International
Airport.
One
was
carrying
former
US
President
Bill
Clinton,
who
was
on
his
second
visit
to
Lesotho,
having
opened
in
2005
at
Queen
Elizabeth
II
Hospital
in
Maseru,
an
antiretroviral
clinic
funded
by
his
Clinton
Foundation.
A
second
plane
was
carrying
Bill
Gates,
the
founder
of
Microsoft,
believed
to
be
the
wealthiest
man
in
the
world,
but
one
who
has
also
founded
the
world’s
largest
charity,
the
Bill
and
Melinda
Gates
Foundation,
with
capital
of
US$20.2
billion,
recently
augmented
by
a
US$31
billion
donation
from
billionaire,
Warren
Buffet.
Bill
and
Melinda
Gates
were
on
their
first
visit
to
Lesotho,
and
they
apparently
asked
the
pilot
to
fly
low
so
that
they
could
see
something
of
the
country
before
landing.
The
third
plane
carried
Stephen
Lewis,
the
UN
Secretary-General’s
special
envoy
on
HIV
and
AIDS
in
Africa.
He
has
visited
Lesotho
several
times
and
also
has
a
fund,
the
Stephen
Lewis
Foundation,
which
has
made
a
commitment
to
renovate
two
government
hospitals.
The
visitors
had
a
busy
day
in
Lesotho,
in
which
they
travelled
to
Mafeteng
to
see
the
Karabong
clinic
which
currently
provides
antiretrovirals
to
some
1200
patients,
and
is
the
second
largest
antiretroviral
clinic
in
Lesotho.
They
also
met
the
Prime
Minister,
Pakalitha
Mosisili.
Antiretroviral
drugs,
which
can
ensure
many
years
of
normal
active
life
to
AIDS
sufferers,
are
now
available
at
a
number
of
key
hospitals
in
Lesotho.
However,
Lesotho
has
an
AIDS
prevalence
rate
estimated
at
some
31%
of
the
adult
population,
and
it
seems
that
not
even
10%
of
these
people
yet
have
access
to
the
drugs,
so
that
the
mortality
rate
of
young
adults,
particularly
in
rural
areas,
remains
tragically
high.
▲back
to top
The
informal
trading
sector
provides
a
living
for
large
numbers
of
people
who
would
otherwise
be
unemployed.
It
also
provides
a
range
of
services
by
selling
fruit,
vegetables,
clothes,
cosmetics,
traditional
and
modern
medicines,
drinks
and
cooked
food
as
well
as
many
other
goods.
The
problem
is
that
in
the
planning
of
Maseru,
there
has
been
inadequate
provision
for
informal
sector
activities,
with
the
result
that
informal
sector
traders,
known
to
everyone
as
baitšokoli,
sell
their
wares
from
improvised
metal
and
cardboard
stalls,
and
sometimes
even
caravans,
on
pavement
areas
outside
formal
shops
and
a
variety
of
government
offices,
banks
and
other
buildings.
The
informal
sector’s
stalls
block
these
pavement
areas,
sometimes
forcing
pedestrians
to
walk
in
the
roads
themselves.
The
matter
has
been
the
concern
of
the
Maseru
City
Council
for
some
time,
but
it
has
not
come
up
with
any
enduring
solution,
because
sites
for
informal
markets
have
become
fewer
as
sites
have
been
earmarked
for
modern
buildings
and
not
traditional
markets.
One
result
has
been
a
long
running
struggle
between
the
MCC
and
the
informal
traders,
and
this
culminated
on
the
night
of
12-13
July
when
the
goods
and
stalls
of
a
large
number
of
informal
traders
were
peremptorily
removed
and
dumped
as
if
worthless
rubbish
at
a
site
outside
Maseru.
The
informal
traders
may
not
individually
have
much
power,
but
the
following
morning,
Thursday
13
July,
they
showed
that
collectively
they
were
a
force
to
be
reckoned
with.
Finding
their
goods
and
stalls
missing
they
immediately
forced
closure
of
the
formal
shops,
most
of
them
Chinese-owned,
and
at
one
point
it
looked
as
if
there
might
be
considerable
disturbances
and
disruption
of
the
normal
life
of
the
capital.
Fortunately
for
the
informal
traders,
however,
the
police
sided
with
them
and
required
the
MCC
to
bring
back
all
of
the
sequestered
goods
to
the
Pitso
Ground
where
they
could
reclaim,
as
far
as
possible,
their
belongings.
There
was
also
the
promise
of
compensation.
This
cooled
off
tempers
and
by
Friday
14
July
matters
were
back
to
normal.
However
tension
between
the
MCC
workers
erupted
into
violence
again
early
in
August,
and
this
time
with
more
serious
consequences
because
after
a
stone
throwing
incident,
two
informal
traders
were
shot
dead
by
MCC
security
workers
and
an
18-year
old
Form
D
pupil
at
Life
High
School,
’Malikoloi
Marumo,
sustained
a
bullet
wound
in
the
thigh.
Seven
security
workers
were
later
arrested
and
facing
two
counts
of
murder
and
one
of
attempted
murder.
▲back
to top
Five
officers
of
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force
were
due
to
return
early
in
July
from
peacekeeping
duties
as
part
of
the
African
Union
force
in
Darfur
in
western
Sudan.
According
to
a
report
in
Public
Eye
of
14
July
2006,
they
were
being
replaced
by
five
new
senior
LDF
officers
led
by
Lieutenant-Colonel
Posa
Stemere
of
the
LDF.
The
group
flew
out
to
Darfur
on
30
June
2006.
Of
the
five
returning
officers,
one
might
be
not
so
happy
to
return
home.
He
is
Phoka
Nkeli,
who
during
his
absence
has
been
named
as
possibly
implicated
in
a
murder.
During
February
1997,
there
had
been
a
police
mutiny,
in
which
the
Police
Headquarters
in
Maseru
had
been
taken
over
by
dissident
police.
The
Lesotho
Defence
Force
had
been
called
in
to
quell
the
mutiny
which
was
achieved
on
16
February
1997
without
loss
of
life,
although
considerable
damage
was
done.
There
had,
however,
been
an
incident
on
the
day
before
when
a
policeman,
Sergeant
Monyatsi
Senekane,
had
been
killed
in
a
Maseru
suburb.
The
deceased’s
brother,
Private
Mokitimi
Senekane
had
pursued
the
matter
ever
since,
and
at
the
inquest
on
his
brother,
finally
heard
nine
years
later,
one
of
the
dissident
police,
Sergeant
Thabang
Makateng,
now
serving
a
long
prison
sentence,
was
brought
to
testify
that
he
was
present
when
a
white
Toyota
Corolla
car
with
four
members
of
the
military
intelligence
unit,
had
opened
fire
on
himself
and
Senekane,
and
he
had
narrowly
escaped
death.
Makateng
implicated
Nkeli
as
one
of
those
who
had
been
in
the
car.
At
the
end
of
the
inquest,
as
reported
in
Public
Eye
of
21
July
2006,
the
Maseru
Magistrate
Tšeliso
Bale
found
that
there
had
been
a
secret
meeting
ahead
of
the
attack
at
which
the
then
Commander
of
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force,
Lieutenant
General
Makhula
Mosakeng
had
been
present,
and
that
to
end
the
police
mutiny
a
decision
was
taken
to
adopt
a
‘hunt-to-kill’
operation.
The
magistrate
reported
that
his
findings
might
require
the
Crown
to
also
consider
Lieutenant-General
Mosakeng
in
the
list
of
accused.
Mosakeng
formally
retired
at
a
ceremony
held
at
Ha
Ratjomose
barracks
on
27
October
2004,
after
27
years
in
military
service
and
as
commander
of
the
LDF
for
10
years.
In
his
speech
at
the
ceremony,
the
Acting
Prime
Minister,
Lesao
Lehohla,
praised
the
role
of
Mosakeng
in
the
disturbances
of
1993,
1994
and
1998.
He
commended
him
on
significant
achievements,
particularly
the
transformation
of
the
army
and
its
depoliticization.
▲back
to top
It
is
a
pleasant
fact
of
life
in
Lesotho
that
His
Majesty
King
Letsie
III
celebrates
his
birthday
by
giving
more
than
he
receives.
His
43rd
birthday
was
no
exception.
The
main
celebrations
were
held
in
the
Quthing
District
headquarters
town
of
Moyeni
on
Monday
17
July.
However
on
Friday
14
July,
there
was
an
awards
ceremony
in
the
grounds
of
the
Royal
Palace
at
which
161
members
of
the
Lesotho
Defence
Force,
the
Lesotho
Mounted
Police
Service
and
the
Lesotho
Correctional
Service
were
given
awards
for
long
service,
outstanding
service,
meritorious
service
or,
in
5
cases,
for
gallantry.
There
were
also
four
civilian
awards
which
are
made
annually
within
one
of
the
Orders
of
Chivalry
which
have
been
created
in
Lesotho,
the
ranks
within
these
orders
being
Member,
Officer,
Commander
and
Knight
Commander.
Two
of
the
four
awards
were
made
posthumously
to
the
late
Selometsi
Baholo
and
to
the
late
Odilon
Seheri.
Both
were
made
Commanders
of
the
Most
Meritorious
Order
of
Mohlomi.
At
the
same
ceremony
O.
M.
Selikane
was
made
an
Officer
of
the
Most
Loyal
Order
of
Ramatšeatsana,
and
Professor
David
Ambrose
of
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
was
made
a
Knight
Commander
of
the
Most
Meritorious
Order
of
Mohlomi.
The
award
to
Selometsi
Baholo
was
presented
to
his
widow.
The
citation
reflected
his
being
one
of
the
early
high
school
science
and
mathematics
teachers
of
Lesotho,
graduating
from
Fort
Hare
in
1956
and
teaching
eventually
at
Peka
High
School
from
1959
to
1970
where
he
rose
to
become
Headmaster
in
1967.
Peka
High
School
was
known
at
the
time
for
the
outstanding
performances
of
its
pupils
in
mathematics
and
science
which
have
hardly
been
equalled
by
any
school
in
later
years.
Baholo
was
also
active
and
an
important
office
holder
in
teachers’
organizations
during
this
period.
Following
the
1970
coup,
he
found
himself
in
exile
for
a
number
of
years,
but
on
his
return
he
occupied
an
important
position
in
the
Ministry
of
Education,
pioneering
the
local
processing
of
the
Standard
7
examination
results.
When
democracy
was
restored
he
was
elected
to
Parliament
in
1993
and
became
Deputy
Prime
Minister
and
Minister
of
Finance
and
Planning.
He
met
his
untimely
end
on
14
April1994
at
the
hands
of
soldiers
dissatisfied
that
as
Minister
of
Finance
he
had
rejected
a
100%
pay
rise
that
they
were
demanding.
The
award
to
Odilon
Seheri
was
presented
to
a
daughter,
her
mother
having
died
some
time
earlier.
Like
Selometsi
Baholo,
Odilon
Seheri
was
a
prominent
educationist
and
teacher.
He
was
born
in
Mohale’s
Hoek
in
1933
and
as
an
educational
administrator
he
rose
to
the
rank
of
Permanent
Secretary
for
Education
and
he
later
became
Country
Director
of
the
Institute
of
Development
Management.
He
also
came
to
an
untimely
end,
but
in
circumstances
which
have
never
been
fully
explained.
He
was
apparently
abducted
and
his
body
and
burned-out
car
found
near
the
road
between
Mantšonyane
and
Thaba-Tseka.
The
award
to
O.
M.
Selikane
was
made
to
him
in
person,
although
ill-health
resulted
in
his
being
confined
to
a
wheel
chair.
After
an
education
at
Basutoland
Training
College
and
Morija
Training
College,
he
had
graduated
with
a
BSc
in
Agriculture
from
the
University
of
the
North
in
South
Africa.
His
citation
referred
to
an
outstanding
career
in
the
Ministry
of
Agriculture,
where
he
dedicated
himself
to
serving
the
farming
community.
One
of
his
achievements
was
to
initiate
community-based
range
management
throughout
the
country.
He
later
became
a
businessman
and
bus
owner.
From
his
home
in
Ha
Mafefoane,
Roma,
he
has
controlled
a
fleet
of
‘Serving
NUL’
minibus
taxis
and
buses,
well
known
for
many
years
to
staff
and
students
at
the
National
University
of
Lesotho.
 David
Ambrose
was
stated
in
the
citation
to
have
arrived
in
Lesotho
in
1965
and
to
be
the
longest
serving
staff
member
of
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
and
its
predecessors.
He
initially
taught
Mathematics,
and
numbered
amongst
over
1000
of
his
former
students
cabinet
ministers
in
Lesotho
and
Botswana
as
well
as
the
Vice-Chancellor
of
the
University
of
Cape
Town.
Amongst
other
activities
he
had
successfully
proposed
the
establishment
of
the
Liphofung
Heritage
Site;
he
had
compiled
and
published
a
history
of
Maseru;
he
had
documented
the
Thuathe
Meteorite
and
raised
money
from
the
sale
of
the
meteorite
stones
for
charitable
purposes;
and
he
had
devised
and
underwritten
the
cost
of
Loti,
Tiso
and
One,
mathematical
games
which
are
widely
used
in
primary
and
secondary
schools.
In
an
exclusive
interview
with
Summary
of
Events,
Sir
David
said
that
he
was
surprised
and
humbled
by
the
honour
given
to
him.
Although
he
preferred
not
to
use
the
title
conferred
on
him,
because
he
did
not
like
people
to
think
of
him
as
different
from
other
people,
he
nevertheless
felt
greatly
indebted
to
the
nation
which
had
given
him
this
recognition
and
also
the
opportunities
for
service.
He
paid
tribute
to
his
wife,
Sumitra,
without
whom
many
of
his
activities
would
have
been
impossible.▲back
to top
The
former
Lesotho
Bank,
which
for
the
past
7
years
had
been
managed
by
Standard
Bank
Lesotho
Ltd,
on
18
July
2006
formally
merged
and
became
Standard
Lesotho
Bank.
The
Lesotho
Union
of
Bank
Employees
(LUBE)
which
formerly
represented
employees
of
Standard
Bank
Lesotho
had
already
in
2005
anticipated
the
merger,
and
formed
a
new
union,
Standard
Bank
Lesotho
Workers’
Union
(SBLWU)
which
embraced
employees
of
the
two
former
banks,
and
now
represents
employees
of
the
single
amalgamated
bank.
▲back
to top
 The
Maloti
Minnow,
Pseudobarbus
quathlambae,
is
Lesotho’s
only
endemic
vertebrate
species.
Although
it
was
first
found
in
the
Mkhomazana
River
in
Natal
in
1938,
near
the
foot
of
Sani
Pass,
later
attempts
to
find
it
were
unsuccessful,
and
the
fish
was
declared
globally
extinct.
The
assumption
was
that
the
trout
which
had
been
introduced
into
the
Mkhomazana
river
had
eliminated
what
had
been
an
extremely
rare
indigenous
fish
species.
However
on
20
November
1970,
the
fish
was
rediscovered
in
Lesotho
in
the
Tsoelikane
river
at
Sehlabathebe
and
subsequently,
after
systematic
searching,
it
was
located
in
the
headwaters
of
a
number
of
rivers,
particularly
those
where
a
waterfall
barred
predatory
yellowfish
from
swimming
upstream
on
their
spring
spawning
migrations.
Two
of
the
most
important
sanctuaries
for
the
Maloti
Minnow
turned
out
to
be
the
Matsoku
and
Senqunyane
catchments,
where
the
Khopo
and
Semonkoaneng
Falls
respectively
barred
yellowfish
and
trout
from
moving
to
the
headwaters.
Later
studies
showed
that
over
90%
of
the
total
population
of
the
fish
was
to
be
found
in
these
two
catchments.
As
a
result
of
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Water
Project,
both
catchments
have
now
been
connected
by
tunnels
to
feed
the
Katse
Reservoir.
Before
the
tunnels
were
built
it
was
realised
that
connecting
the
catchments
in
this
way
was
likely
to
be
dangerous
to
the
Maloti
Minnow
populations,
because
predatory
trout
(thought
to
be
the
worst
enemy)
and
also
yellowfish
might
be
able
to
swim
in
the
opposite
direction
to
the
main
water
delivery
and
invade
Maloti
Minnow
territory.
It
now
appears
that
this
has
happened.
An
October
2005
report
records
the
presence
of
yellowfish
in
the
Matsoku
river,
and
it
appears
that
they
may
have
been
there
for
at
least
two
spawning
seasons
since
the
Katse
Reservoir
had
last
reached
its
full
surface
level
in
March
2003.
There
is
some
confusion
about
the
outlet
from
the
Matsoku-Katse
transfer
tunnel.
It
is
reported
that
it
was
supposed
to
have
ended
above
the
maximum
surface
level
of
the
Katse
Reservoir
so
that
water
had
a
fall
of
at
least
2
metres
into
the
reservoir.
However,
other
reports
say
that
at
maximum
surface
level,
the
tunnel
outlet
is
in
fact
just
covered.
If
this
is
the
case,
the
opportunity
for
yellowfish
to
swim
into
the
tunnel
is
obvious.
With
their
well-known
skill
in
swimming
upstream
against
strong
currents,
passing
through
the
tunnel
probably
required
no
great
effort.
So
far,
however,
none
of
the
Rainbow
Trout
which,
for
a
while
after
it
filled,
thickly
populated
the
Katse
Reservoir,
seem
to
have
taken
the
same
route.
More
recently,
something
similar
seems
to
have
happened
with
the
much
longer
Mohale-Katse
transfer
tunnel.
To
conserve
the
Maloti
Minnow
in
the
Senqunyane/Mohale
Dam
catchment,
a
M9
million
trust
fund
was
set
up,
and
used
to
create
a
Lesotho
Biodiversity
Trust,
whose
initial
main
responsibility
was
the
conservation
of
the
Maloti
Minnow.
A
full-time
Conservation
Officer,
Thabo
Sephaka,
a
Rhodes
University
trained
ichthyologist,
was
recruited
to
work
for
the
trust.
Since
December
2005,
he
has
been
monitoring
fish
populations
in
the
Mohale
catchment,
where
three
rivers
feeding
into
the
new
reservoir,
the
Senqunyane,
Bokong
and
Jorotane,
all
have
Maloti
Minnow
populations.
On
2
March
2006,
he
first
recorded
yellowfish
near
the
tunnel
entrance,
and
over
the
following
months
the
number
of
fish
caught
has
increased,
and
they
have
been
found
in
all
the
main
rivers
feeding
the
Mohale
Reservoir.
The
first
catch
of
yellowfish
was
not
long
after
the
Mohale
Dam
had
overflowed
on
13
February
2006,
immediately
following
which
the
surplus
water
was
diverted
by
opening
the
tunnel
connecting
the
Mohale
and
Katse
Reservoirs.
The
future
of
the
Maloti
Minnow
now
seems
threatened
in
both
the
catchments
where
it
formerly
had
a
safe
sanctuary.
Formerly,
the
building
of
one
or
more
barriers
up
which
predatory
fish
could
not
climb
on
the
Bokong
and
Senqunyane
rivers
had
been
proposed.
However,
this
may
already
be
too
late,
because
it
seems
likely
that
the
predatory
yellowfish
may
have
already
penetrated
above
the
proposed
barrier
sites.
Other
action
has,
however,
already
been
taken
to
ensure
that
the
Mohale
population
of
the
fish,
which
is
genetically
distinct
from
the
eastern
Lesotho
populations,
is
as
secure
as
possible.
Fish
have
been
translocated
to
three
different
headwaters,
to
the
Makhaleng
river
above
Qiloane
Falls,
to
the
upper
Quthing
catchment
above
the
Qanatu
Falls,
and
to
the
upper
’Maletsunyane
above
the
power
station
located
at
Semonkoaneng
Falls.
A
fourth
relocation
has
been
relatively
simple.
The
Jorotane
river
feeding
the
Mohale
Reservoir
has
its
own
waterfall,
the
Pampiri
Falls.
It
seems
the
Maloti
Minnow
never
penetrated
above
these
falls,
but
the
river
upstream
has
now
been
stocked,
and
this
population
with
its
natural
barrier
should
be
secure
from
predatory
yellowfish
and
also
trout
if
they
also
appear.
Taxonomically,
the
Maloti
Minnow
has
undergone
two
transformations.
It
started
out
as
Labeo
quathlambae
in
1938,
the
quathlambae
being
a
well-intentioned
correctly
Latinized
but
misspelt
specific
epithet
derived
from
a
supposed
local
name
for
the
Drakensberg.
The
fish
acquired
its
own
genus
as
Oreodaimon
quathlambae
in
1967,
the
new
genus
deriving
from
the
Greek
for
‘mountain
spirit’.
However,
in
1988,
Paul
Skelton
determined
its
proper
taxonomic
status
to
be
within
the
genus
Pseudobarbus
of
Redfin
Minnows.
There
are
seven
species
in
this
genus,
but
the
other
six
species
are
all
to
be
found
in
the
Cape
Fold
Mountains,
far
from
Lesotho.
The
chosen
Sesotho
name
is
thoboshana,
which
suggests
speckled
in
colour.
This
is,
however,
not
a
name
known
to
people
locally
in
the
Mohale
catchment.
They
commonly
call
it
lelinyane
(‘juvenile’)
thinking
that
because
of
its
small
size
(mature
fish
are
typically
only
about
9
cm
long),
it
is
the
juvenile
of
a
larger
fish.▲back
to top
A
tender
notice
in
Lesotho
Today
of
20
July
2006
invites
tenders
for
the
supply
of
street
lighting
for
a
6
km
length
of
road
from
Mahlanyeng
past
the
University
gate
as
far
as
Maphotong
in
Roma.
▲back
to top
Human
rights
and
environmental
issues
report
is
an
undated
publication
which
was
released
to
the
press
late
in
July
2006.
It
is
produced
by
the
Lesotho
Council
of
Non-Governmental
Organizations
(LCN)
in
conjunction
with
the
Lesotho
Clothing
and
Allied
Workers
Union.
It
is
the
result
of
factory
inspections
and
interviews
with
20
workers
in
each
of
six
textile
factories
located
in
either
Maseru
or
Maputsoe.
It
estimates
that
the
total
number
of
textile
workers
is
about
45
000,
and
the
vast
majority
of
these
are
women.
The
report
refers
to
the
legal
rights
of
workers
under
the
Constitution
and
under
legislation
such
as
the
Labour
Code
Order
1992.
Of
those
interviewed,
22%
stated
they
had
observed
unfair
discrimination
in
factories,
citing
cases
where
Basotho
workers
were
subjected
to
disciplinary
procedures
and
dismissed,
whereas
this
did
not
happen
to
Chinese
workers.
On
the
matter
of
strikes,
even
though
40%
of
employees
were
members
of
trade
unions,
in
practice
there
were
no
strikes,
employees
no
doubt
fearing
that
they
might
be
dismissed
en
masse
if
they
took
strike
action.
On
the
matter
of
sick
leave,
it
is
noted
under
the
Labour
Code
that
employees
are
only
entitled
to
paid
sick
leave
after
six
months
of
employment,
and
that
paid
sick
leave
is
limited
to
twelve
days
in
the
second
six
months.
It
was
found
that
in
quite
a
number
of
cases
these
rules
were
not
being
adhered
to,
and
deductions
from
salaries
were
being
made
even
when
medical
certificates
were
being
supplied.
On
safety,
63%
of
workers
reported
that
some
safety
precautions
were
being
taken
by
employers.
However,
it
was
observed
that
even
when
protective
masks
were
supplied,
many
workers
were
not
using
them
and
they
were
hanging
loose
round
their
necks.
On
maternity
leave,
it
seems
that
employers
are
observing
the
requirements
of
the
Labour
Code,
namely
allowing
12
weeks
unpaid
maternity
leave,
and
in
fact
they
had
improved
on
this
by
allowing
women
to
be
paid
for
the
first
two
weeks
of
maternity
leave.
On
hours
of
work,
the
survey
found
that
almost
all
workers
were
exceeding
the
maximum
45
hours
of
work
during
the
week.
Moreover,
many
reported
that
they
did
not
get
the
full
1
hour
break
they
were
entitled
to
during
the
working
day.
It
was
found
that
some
workers
were
working
as
many
as
10
to
11
hours
per
day.
There
was
a
general
finding
that
workers
were
not
aware
of
their
rights.
On
wages,
a
parallel
survey,
As
you
sew,
by
the
Federation
of
Women
Lawyers
is
quoted,
showing
that
on
average,
workers
in
the
textile
industry
earn
only
M713.80
per
month.
Many
women
complement
their
low
wages
by
acting
as
sex
workers.
Although
details
specific
to
textile
workers
are
not
available,
it
is
estimated
that
about
a
third
of
the
work
force,
15
000
women,
are
infected
with
HIV/AIDS.
Although
the
report
includes
‘environmental
issues’
in
its
title,
it
does
in
fact
have
very
little
to
say
about
these.
It
refers
briefly
to
research
at
the
Lerotholi
Polytechnic
on
the
‘Blue
River’,
a
stream
of
effluent
at
the
Thetsane
Industrial
Estate
which
is
well
known
to
travellers
along
the
Maseru
by-pass
road
which
crosses
this
stream.
The
Blue
River
is
said
to
contain
carcinogenic
heavy
metals
and
to
be
dangerous
to
human
and
animal
health.
The
report
includes
a
photograph
of
a
pig
drinking
water
at
the
Blue
River.
The
report
contains
a
number
of
recommendations,
some
of
them
obvious
but
some
of
them
costly.
Some
are,
however,
clearly
impractical
on
a
large
scale,
such
as
decentralising
the
industry
to
the
highlands
of
Lesotho.
This
is
seen
as
helping
to
unite
families
and
to
prevent
the
spread
of
HIV/AIDS.
It
is
also
recommended
that
textile
workers
be
trained
so
that
they
can
continue
with
their
work
and
not
be
left
destitute
when
factories
are
closed.
Public
Eye
in
its
issue
of
28
July
2006
had
profiled
the
report
under
the
headline
‘Inhuman
and
Unbearable!’
In
its
issue
of
11
August
2006,
it
interviewed
the
Secretary
of
the
Lesotho
Textile
Exporters
Association
(LTEA),
Thabo
Mohaleroe,
and
the
Association’s
Chairperson,
Jennifer
Chen.
However,
both
said
that
although
they
had
seen
the
Public
Eye
report,
they
had
not
seen
the
report
itself.
They
disagreed
with
the
findings
reported
in
Public
Eye
,
and
disputed
the
information
given
about
working
hours,
because
overtime
was
permitted
under
the
law.
On
the
minimum
wage
it
was
noted
that
this
stands
at
M686
per
month,
but
some
employers
paid
more.
The
textile
sector
was
competing
against
countries
such
as
Vietnam,
Bangladesh
and
Cambodia,
where
wages
were
only
about
US$40
(M272)
per
month.
It
was
also
having
to
take
account
of
and
to
conform
to
codes
of
conduct
prescribed
by
some
of
its
main
US
purchasers
such
as
Wal-Mart,
Levi’s
and
Gap.
Lesotho’s
Labour
Department
had
upgraded
its
factory
inspection
unit,
and
LTEA
was
also
developing
its
own
code
of
conduct
in
association
with
the
Lesotho
National
Development
Corporation.
The
LTEA
representatives
noted
that
the
largest
union,
the
Factory
Workers
Union
(FAWU)
had
distanced
itself
from
the
report.
▲back
to top
The
National
Assembly
convened
for
four
sittings
of
a
Twelfth
Meeting
on
Friday
28
July
2006
mainly
in
order
to
legalize
government
expenditure
by
passing
Supplementary
Appropriation
Bills
for
the
past
(2005/2006)
and
present
(2006/2007)
Financial
Years.
However,
the
whole
of
the
first
sitting
was
devoted
to
events
resulting
from
the
assassination
of
Bereng
Sekhonyana
MP,
who
had
been
assassinated
two
days
after
the
previous
Meeting
of
Parliament
had
been
adjourned
sine
die.
The
first
sitting
began
by
the
BNP
replacement
proportional
representation
Member
of
Parliament,
Thabo
Joshua
Khetla
Rakhetla,
taking
the
oath
of
allegiance.
Like
his
predecessor,
Bereng
Sekhonyana,
he
has
not
had
a
smooth
career
in
the
BNP.
A
veteran
BNP
politician,
he
had
been
nominated
as
a
member
of
the
Senate
following
the
1998
election,
but
was
then
ostracized
by
other
party
members
because
he
had
accepted
the
nomination
without
party
approval.
An
obituary
of
the
late
Bereng
Sekhonyana,
was
then
read
to
Parliament.
This
was
much
fuller
than
what
had
appeared
in
newspapers
at
the
time
of
his
death.
It
is
summarized,
with
occasional
additional
commentary,
below.
Bereng
Augustinus
Sekhonyana
was
born
at
Ha
’Mantsoepa
in
Quthing
District
on
14
April
1942,
the
second
son
of
Chief
Laboraro
and
Chieftainess
’Maretšelisitsoe
Sekhonyana,
who
survives
him.
He
was
five
years
younger
than
his
older
brother,
Evaristus
Retšelisitsoe
(‘E.
R.’)
Sekhonyana,
who
became
Minister
of
Finance
and
later
Minister
of
Foreign
Affairs
in
the
Government
of
Leabua
Jonathan,
and
later
Minister
of
Finance
again
in
1986
after
the
Military
Coup.
His
elder
brother
was
also
BNP
party
leader
at
the
time
of
the
restoration
of
democracy
in
1993
(see
Summary
of
Events
(Fourth
Quarter,
1998)
for
obituary
notice
of
‘E.R.’).
Bereng
Sekhonyana,
popularly
known
as
Ntate
Selala,
went
as
far
as
Junior
Certificate
at
Roma
College
(the
present
Christ
the
King
High
School),
and
completed
South
African
Matriculation
at
Pax
College
in
Germiston,
South
Africa,
after
which
he
undertook
a
BA
in
Administration
at
the
University
of
the
Witwatersrand.
In
1967,
the
then
Prime
Minister,
Leabua
Jonathan,
paid
a
visit
to
Malawi,
where
he
was
impressed
by
the
youth
movement,
the
Young
Pioneers
which
had
been
set
up
by
Dr
Kamuzu
Banda
with
Israeli
help.
Bereng
Sekhonyana
was
chosen
to
head
a
group
of
BNP
youth
to
study
the
movement
in
Malawi,
following
which
he
headed
another
group
to
study
youth
leadership
in
Israel.
The
Lesotho
Youth
Service
was
formally
established
on
the
Botšabelo
site
near
Maseru
in
June
1969,
and
Bereng
Sekhonyana
was
the
Director
of
the
Lesotho
Youth
Service
from
1969
to
1975,
although
from
1973
to
1975
he
was
on
leave
to
undertake
a
Diploma
in
Social
Leadership
at
the
Kaoshiung
University
in
Taiwan.
By
this
time,
he
had
acquired
considerable
organizational
skills,
and
from
1975
to
1984
he
progressed
from
Assistant
Private
Secretary
to
the
Prime
Minister
through
a
number
of
increasingly
responsible
positions
to
Permanent
Secretary
in
the
Ministry
of
Justice
and
Prisons
in
1982.
In
1984,
he
became
Lesotho’s
High
Commissioner
to
Kenya,
and
in
1986
High
Commissioner
to
Canada.
He
survived,
like
his
brother,
the
transition
to
military
rule,
and
in
1988
on
return
from
overseas,
became
Principal
Secretary
(Permanent
Secretaries
by
this
time
had
been
redesignated
Principal
Secretaries)
in
the
Ministry
of
the
Interior.
In
1990
he
was
transferred
to
become
Principal
Secretary
in
the
Ministry
of
Broadcasting
&
Communications,
formally
retiring
in
1992.
With
the
restoration
of
democracy,
he
became
active
in
politics,
initially
serving
in
the
Maseru
City
Council,
and
in
1998
taking
over
from
his
brother,
E.
R.
Sekhonyana,
the
BNP
leadership.
In
the
1998
General
Election,
he
stood
for
Parliament
as
BNP
candidate
for
the
Maseru
central
constituency,
coming
a
fairly
close
second
to
the
winning
LCD
candidate.
Thereafter
there
was
serious
unrest,
one
consequence
of
which
was
the
setting
up
of
the
Interim
Political
Authority
of
which
he
was
Co-Chairman,
a
role
in
which
his
negotiating
and
diplomatic
skills
were
extremely
useful.
It
was
the
IPA
which
mapped
out
the
new
structures
leading
to
the
2002
election
under
a
new
‘Mixed
Member
Proportional’
system
in
which
80
Members
of
Parliament
were
elected
‘first
past
the
post’
in
constituencies
and
the
other
40
were
elected
by
proportional
representation.
Within
the
BNP,
Major-General
Lekhanya
in
the
meantime
had
emerged
as
President,
and
Bereng
Sekhonyana
was
his
Vice-President
from
1999
to
March
2003,
when
after
friction
between
Lekhanya
and
Sekhonyana,
Sekhonyana
was
voted
out
and
replaced
as
Vice-President
by
another
former
diplomat,
Joseph
Mollo.
The
final
crisis
occurred
when
the
Speaker
nominated
Bereng
Sekhonyana
as
one
of
two
persons
to
represent
Parliament
at
a
SADC
Parliamentary
Reform
Conference
in
Botswana
in
September
2005.
It
should
have
been
regarded
as
a
wise
choice,
given
Sekhonyana’s
experience
on
the
IPA,
but
the
BNP
leadership
from
which
he
was
now
estranged
asked
her
to
change
her
nomination,
failing
which
she
was
threatened
that
protests
would
be
made
by
picketing
Parliament,
which
actually
happened.
This
led
in
turn
to
Parliament
referring
the
matter
to
the
Committee
of
Privileges,
which
recommended
that
certain
MPs
including
the
leader
of
the
BNP
should
be
suspended
from
Parliament
for
lengthy
periods.
The
Committee
of
Privileges
Report
was
debated
late
in
May
2006
with
Bereng
Sekhonyana
totally
supporting
it,
and
Metsing
Lekhanya,
who
was
about
to
be
suspended
for
ten
months,
totally
rejecting
it.
Parliament
adopted
the
recommendations
of
the
Committee
of
Privileges
report.
Two
days
later,
Bereng
Sekhonyana
was
shot
dead
outside
his
house,
and
it
was
found
that
eighteen
bullets
had
been
used
from
three
different
guns.
Bereng
Sekhonyana
is
survived
by
his
wife,
five
daughters,
a
son,
two
granddaughters
and
a
great-granddaughter.
Following
the
reading
of
the
obituary,
the
remainder
of
the
sitting
and
the
28-page
Hansard
was
taken
up
by
tributes
paid
to
Sekhonyana
by
members
of
the
different
parties
represented
in
Parliament.▲back
to top
As
reported
by
the
Lesotho
News
Agency,
police
on
Wednesday
26
July
charged
five
members
of
the
Lekhanya
family
including
Major-General
Lekhanya
and
his
wife
Sophie
for
contravention
of
the
Internal
Security
Act
in
that
they
were
in
possession
of
unlicensed
weapons.
At
the
same
time,
Father
Gabriel
Lehloka
of
the
Cathedral
of
Our
Lady
of
Victories
was
charged
with
having
in
his
possession
a
rifle,
three
magazines
and
62
rounds
of
ammunition,
which
were
found
on
5
July
at
Our
Lady
of
Victories
mission.
All
of
those
charged
were
remanded
on
bail.
▲back
to top
As
reported
in
Lesotho
Today
of
3
August
2006,
Queen
’Masenate
on
Wednesday
26
July
opened
new
accommodation
buildings
for
the
Lesotho
Durham
Link.
The
new
block
consists
of
six
bedrooms
accommodating
six
people
each,
two
toilets,
a
kitchen
and
a
pantry.
The
first
to
benefit
from
using
the
block
were
3
teachers
and
25
pupils
from
Durham
Girls
High
School
who
were
on
a
visit
to
Lesotho.
The
Lesotho
Durham
Link
was
established
in
1986
between
the
Anglican
Dioceses
of
Durham
and
Lesotho.
Its
activities
have
included
the
establishment
of
a
clinic
and
community
centre
at
Ha
Mohatlane
in
Berea
District
and
a
tree
planting
project
in
Quthing
District.
A
micro-enterprise
loan
scheme
to
help
communities
establish
small
projects
lapsed
through
poor
administration,
but
the
Link
now
offers
training
for
people
affected
by
or
infected
with
HIV/AIDS.
It
also
sponsors
training
in
a
number
of
outdoor
activities
including
canoeing
and
rock-climbing.▲back
to top
Letša
Motete,
who
works
as
an
Information
Technology
(IT)
specialist
at
Standard
Lesotho
Bank
has
opened
and
for
some
time
been
operating
Lesotho’s
first
sound
recording
studio
in
Maseru.
The
story
is
broken
in
the
August
2006
issue
of
Informative,
one
of
several
new
newspapers
which
have
recently
appeared
using
full
colour.
Letša
is
himself
a
pianist
who
also
discovered
that
sound
bites
were
also
easy
to
produce
using
computer
software.
He
started
working
on
the
recording
studio
in
2004
and
has
already
released
several
gospel
albums
with
Basotho
performers,
and
more
recently
has
been
working
with
famo
and
jazz
artists.
▲back
to top
The
National
Assembly
debated
the
supplementary
estimates
for
2005/6
and
2006/7
over
three
days
from
Monday
31
July
2006
to
Wednesday
2
August
2006.
During
this
time,
opposition
MPs
in
particular
showed
disapproval
about
some
of
the
expenditures
which
had
been
incurred
and
needed
to
be
legalized.
There
were
also
questions
as
to
whether
what
was
being
legitimized
as
recurrent
expenditure
should
not
have
been
capital
expenditure.
For
2005/6,
as
tabulated
in
Hansard
of
31
July
2006,
the
supplementary
recurrent
expenditure
needing
retrospective
approval
was
M103.2
million,
of
which
the
largest
amount
of
M38.0
million
was
incurred
by
the
Prime
Minister’s
Office,
of
which
it
seems
M16
million
was
spent
on
the
Smart
Partnership
Conference,
and
M15
million
on
the
establishment
of
the
National
Aids
Secretariat
and
National
Aids
Commission.
The
second
largest
amount
was
M12.7
million
for
Local
Government,
most
of
it
for
payments
to
the
new
Community
Councils,
with
smaller
amounts
for
augmenting
the
allowances
of
Principal
Chiefs
and
compensating
the
people
of
Thibella
in
Maseru
whose
buildings
had
to
be
acquired
to
allow
for
expansion
of
the
bus
station.
The
third
largest
amount
of
M11
million
was
for
Education
and
Training
and,
as
reported
in
Hansard,
was
defended
for
retrospective
approval
in
the
debate
on
31
July
2006
by
the
Minister
of
Education
and
Training,
Hon.
M.
K.
Tsekoa.
The
supplementary
amount
was
required
for
university
growth
to
accommodate
10
000
students
and
was
required
for
accommodation,
library
expansion
and
a
new
science
building.
The
M11
million
was
more
specifically
part
of
a
M30
million
amount
needed
to
expand
the
library
and
the
science
laboratories.
The
fourth
largest
amount
was
M9.2
million
for
the
Ministry
of
Natural
Resources,
of
which
M8.9
million
had
been
needed
to
augment
the
National
University
of
Lesotho
water
supply
at
Roma
to
make
provision
for
student
growth.
The
fifth
largest
amount
was
M8.7
million
for
the
Ministry
of
Finance
and
Development
Planning,
most
of
it
being
used
apparently
on
studies
relating
to
the
replacement
of
the
Queen
Elizabeth
II
Hospital
with
a
new
National
Referral
Hospital.
This
is
a
development
planning
matter
undertaken
on
behalf
of
the
Ministry
of
Health.
Supplementary
expenditure
for
the
National
Assembly
was
M7.5
million,
mainly
for
enhanced
salaries
of
Members
of
Parliament.
The
Ministry
of
Health
needed
approval
of
additional
expenditure
of
M5.4
million,
the
most
of
which
was
for
x-ray
machines
(rather
quaintly
classified
as
‘office
equipment’).
Eight
new
machines
had
been
purchased
for
government
hospitals
whose
machines
were
very
old
or
indeed
totally
non-functional.
Amongst
other
retrospectively
approved
expenditure
was
M2.3
million
to
send
Lesotho’s
team
to
the
Commonwealth
Games.
On
the
other
hand
money
to
improve
prison
conditions
(so
urgent
and
necessary
as
elaborated
in
reports
by
Mr
Justice
White
and
the
Ombudsman)
was
a
relatively
paltry
M1.4
million,
mainly
it
seems
to
improve
the
sewerage
systems
at
certain
prisons.
▲back
to top
The
Transformation
Resource
Centre
was
founded
in
1979
by
Jimmy
and
Joan
Stewart
in
Maseru.
They
were
no
strangers
to
Lesotho,
having
taught
together
at
Pius
XII
College
at
Roma,
twenty
years
earlier,
after
which
their
study,
travels
and
work
took
them
to
England,
USA,
Kenya
and
Malawi,
where
Jimmy
Stewart
was
Professor
of
English.
During
this
time,
he
revisited
Lesotho
as
External
Examiner
in
English
at
what
had
by
now
become
the
National
University
of
Lesotho.
Like
many
expatriates
in
Malawi,
Jimmy
Stewart
was
deported
in
1978
by
President
Kamuzu
Banda
for
exercising
too
much
freedom
of
speech.
(Some
who
remember
Jimmy
Stewart
will
even
recall
that
he
could
hardly
stop
talking!)
On
leaving
Malawi,
Jimmy
and
Joan,
estranged
from
their
native
South
Africa
because
of
its
apartheid
policies,
decided
to
come
to
Lesotho.
Jimmy
had
at
the
time
hoped
for
employment
at
NUL,
but
as
a
result
of
a
variety
of
circumstances
it
was
not
to
be.
In
1979,
he
devoted
his
energies
instead
to
founding
the
Transformation
Resource
Centre,
with
aims
which
proclaimed
it
to
be
a
centre
for
peace,
justice
and
development
in
the
southern
African
region.
It
seems
that
possibly
both
Dr
Banda
and
NUL
played
a
role
in
the
founding
of
the
TRC!
TRC
has
had
five
physical
locations
in
Maseru.
It
began
in
a
room
closely
adjoining
the
Khauhelo
Hostel
on
the
left
of
the
Main
South
Road
out
of
Maseru;
later
moved
to
accommodation
belonging
to
the
Assemblies
of
God
Church
further
along
on
the
right
of
the
same
road;
then
moved
to
a
house
in
the
Maseru
suburb
of
Mohalalitoe;
next
it
moved
into
the
centre
of
Maseru
at
the
top
of
the
Carlton
Centre
building;
while
its
final
move
took
it
to
its
present
architect-designed
premises
(‘1
Oaktree
Gardens,
Qoaling
Road’)
on
a
turning
off
Orpen
Road
near
to
the
Maseru
Sun
Hotel.
Jimmy
and
Joan
Stewart
died
tragically
in
July
1984
when
their
yellow
beetle
was
in
collision
at
Boinyatso
with
the
car
of
a
Tanzanian
staff
member
of
NUL,
who
suffered
from
a
condition
which
caused
him
to
become
temporarily
mentally
deranged.
The
collision
occurred
when
he
was
driving
at
speed
on
the
wrong
side
of
the
road.
However
TRC,
as
it
became
known
to
everyone,
survived
this
tragic
event.
The
periodical
Work
for
Justice,
which
the
Stewarts
had
begun
in
July
1983,
continued,
often
a
lonely
voice
when
other
dissent
was
stifled,
through
periods
of
transition
in
both
Lesotho
and
South
Africa.
Amongst
those
who
was
a
particularly
regular
contributor
was
John
Gay,
and
it
is
he
who
has
now
compiled
and
edited
The
best
of
Work
for
Justice
1983-2004:
articles
from
the
Newsletter
of
the
Transformation
Resource
Centre.
In
300
pages,
the
book
(in
A4
format
like
the
quarterly
Work
for
Justice),
condenses
22
years
of
commentary,
analysis,
advocacy,
foresight
and
hindsight
devoted
to
matters
such
as
religion,
politics,
human
rights,
employment,
women’s
rights
and
the
environment.
There
is
an
enormous
amount
of
interesting
detail,
but
the
articles
are
unsigned
and
most
regrettably,
there
is
no
index.
This
was
one
of
two
new
books
formally
launched
at
TRC
on
Friday
4
August
2006.
The
second
was
a
multiply
authored
150-page
volume,
On
the
wrong
side
of
development:
lessons
learned
from
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Water
Project.
The
main
thrust
of
this
volume
(which
unfortunately
also
does
not
have
an
index)
is
the
present
situation
of
many
hundreds
of
households
which
were
resettled
from
the
area
of
the
Mohale
Dam
because
their
houses
or
their
fields
and
thereby
their
livelihoods
were
to
be
inundated
by
the
new
reservoir.
These
households
were
mostly
relocated
to
the
Lowlands
or
Foothills
of
Lesotho
where
in
terms
of
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Water
Project
Treaty,
they
were
to
‘be
enabled
to
maintain
a
standard
of
living
not
inferior
to
that
obtaining
at
the
first
disturbances’.
As
the
book
makes
clear,
despite
what
seemed
to
many
people
to
be
generous
compensation
terms,
the
reality
is
very
different.
The
project
provided
new
houses,
some
skills
training,
and
some
financial
compensation,
but
the
reality
is
that
people
who
were
used
to
living
off
the
land
with
free
access
to
water,
suddenly
found
themselves
in
peri-urban
environments
where
everything
had
to
be
paid
for
with
money,
which
they
were
unaccustomed
to
managing,
paid
in
a
lump
sum
once
a
year.
The
project
provided
new
homes,
but
it
could
not
provide
land
to
compensate
for
what
had
been
lost.
Their
standard
of
living
has
deteriorated
contrary
to
the
Treaty.
When
resettlement
was
being
first
considered,
there
was
amongst
the
consultants
a
topic
they
were
forbidden
to
discuss.
If
they
did
discuss
it
at
all,
it
was
in
hushed
tones.
Yet
it
seemed
an
obvious
solution
to
a
difficult
problem.
This
was
an
international
water
project.
There
was
no
arable
land
left
in
Lesotho
for
resettlement.
Why
not
buy
a
number
of
farms
across
the
river
in
the
Free
State
and
resettle
people
so
that
in
line
with
the
Treaty
they
would
have
land
holdings
not
less
than
those
they
had
previously
enjoyed?
However
such
a
suggestion
was
completely
taboo.
It
had
international
implications,
which
no-one
at
the
time
even
wanted
to
begin
to
discuss.
The
new
book
also
does
not
dare
mention
this
option,
but
it
does
provide
useful
insights,
in
particular
into
how
voices
of
dissent
which
were
at
first
dismissed
later
influenced
project
policy.
At
the
Impoundment
Ceremony
for
the
Katse
Dam
on
20
October
1995,
the
South
African
Minister
of
Water
Affairs,
Kader
Asmal,
referred
to
a
‘destructive
campaign’
by
pressure
groups.
However,
not
long
afterwards,
he
himself
chaired
the
World
Commission
on
Dams,
which
issued
a
report
in
2000
which
revolutionized
the
way
that
projects
should
in
future
take
account
of
their
social
impact.
Guidelines
issued
were
far
more
stringent
than
those
which
the
World
Bank
had
earlier
adopted
as
conditions
for
funding.
Amongst
the
recommendations
were
that
dams
should
not
be
built
without
the
‘consent’
of
the
affected
people
and
that
past
injustices
should
be
rectified.
By
2000,
a
total
of
45
000
large
dams
had
been
built
around
the
World,
irrigating
a
third
of
the
World’s
crops,
generating
a
fifth
of
electrical
power,
controlling
floods
in
wet
periods
and
storing
water
for
dry
periods.
But
there
is
a
downside.
Dams
have
also
displaced
40
million
people,
and
dammed
half
of
the
World’s
rivers
reducing
the
flow
for
downstream
users.
The
Lesotho
Highlands
Water
Project
has
seemingly
influenced
a
change
of
wide-reaching
international
importance
for
those
who
were
once
voiceless
victims.
A
useful
and
informative
contribution
to
the
book
(and
the
longest)
is
by
Thayer
Scudder.
He
notes
that
‘in
the
mid-1980s
the
World
Bank
began
to
require
borrowers
seeking
financial
assistance
for
such
contentious
projects
as
large
dams
to
recruit
panels
of
environmental
and
social
experts
to
complement
a
long-standing
requirement
for
dam
safety
panels.
In
both
cases,
project
authorities
must
recruit
no
less
than
3
members
acceptable
to
the
Bank,
whose
fees,
paid
through
the
project
authority,
are
eligible
for
reimbursement
from
technical
assistance
funds
provided
by
the
Bank.
Such
panels
are
independent
with
their
reports
to
be
released
as
public
documents.
Though
members
must
address
terms
of
reference
provided
by
the
project
authority,
they
can
also
investigate
whatever
other
issues
they
consider
to
be
relevant.
Except
under
special
conditions,
reports
are
prepared
in
country
and
discussed
with
the
project
authority
before
the
PoE
leaves.’
Scudder
was
himself
a
member
of
the
Panel
of
Experts
to
advise
on
environmental
social
issues
relating
to
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Water
Project
and
he
served
on
the
PoE,
which
met
annually
and
after
1994
twice
annually,
until
2002.
He
notes
that
in
Lesotho
‘the
PoE’s
accomplishments
and
effectiveness
between
1989
and
the
present
have
varied.
Between
1989
and
1991
lack
of
support
from
the
project
authorities,
and
especially
increasing
conflict
between
PoE
members
and
the
[Joint
Project
Technical]
Commission,
had
an
adverse
effect
on
Panel
contributions.
The
Panel’s
greatest
support
and
effectiveness
was
during
the
1995-2001
period’.
One
notes
that
although
the
PoE’s
reports
were
supposed
to
be
in
the
public
domain,
the
fact
was
that
the
members
left
Lesotho
each
time
immediately
after
each
annual
or
semi-annual
assignment,
and
that
the
Project
itself
would
have
no
interest
in
disseminating
critical
material
widely.
This
resulted
in
the
very
valuable
analyses
and
recommendations
being
effectively
lost
to
a
wider
public
which
might
have
lobbied
for
their
implementation.
However,
it
can
be
noted
that
the
PoE’s
views
were
not
totally
unheeded.
The
PoE
advocated
for
better
terms
of
compensation,
and
more
recently
pleaded
for
the
impact
of
the
project
on
downstream
users
to
be
calculated.
This
has
subsequently
been
done,
although
the
extent
of
compensation
remains
a
difficult
area.
The
new
book,
edited
by
Mabusetsa
Lenka
Thamae
and
Lori
Pottinger,
derives
from
the
TRC’s
LHWP
Advocacy,
Monitoring
and
Empowerment
Project,
set
up
to
assist
communities
affected
by
the
LHWP.
At
the
book
launch,
a
significant
number
of
those
present
were
persons
who
had
been
relocated
from
the
Mohale
Reservoir
site.
Several,
particularly
women,
spoke
eloquently
and
movingly
about
their
severe
difficulties
at
having
to
leave
an
area
where
land
for
cultivation,
water
and
wild
plants
were
all
freely
available,
and
now
having
to
survive
in
an
environment
without
access
to
land,
and
where
all
resources
had
to
be
paid
for
with
money.
Amongst
those
who
were
there
to
listen
were
members
of
the
Lesotho
Highlands
Development
Authority
including
its
Public
Relations
Officer.
▲back
to top
The
Letšeng
Mine
in
Mokhotlong
District
was
formally
jointly
owned
by
Brett
Kebbles’
JCI
(38%);
the
South
African
Black
Empowerment
Group,
Matodzi
Resources
(38%):
and
the
Lesotho
Government
(24%).
In
the
fallout
following
the
death
of
Brett
Kebble,
whose
liabilities
exceeded
his
assets
by
vast
sums,
his
liquidators
put
his
share
of
the
Letšeng
diamond
mine
up
for
sale,
and
it
was
bought
by
Clifford
Elphick’s
Gem
Diamonds
mining
company
for
R879.5
million
in
July
2006.
The
Lesotho
Government
needed
to
approve
the
deal,
but
in
the
process
sought
to
increase
its
share
of
the
mine.
After
much
negotiation
it
has
been
agreed
that
the
government
will
increase
its
share
from
24%
to
30%
with
each
of
the
two
main
shareholders
selling
a
3%
share.
The
deal
is
not
yet
complete,
because
JCI
and
Matodzi
shareholders
have
to
approve
the
new
structuring.
▲back
to top
Public
Eye
in
its
issue
of
4
August
2006
broke
the
news
that
the
National
Assembly
had
been
invoiced
M1.4
million
for
a
new
printer/photocopier
by
Itec
Lesotho,
but
that
its
own
inquiries
had
indicated
that
the
machine
even
with
accessories
should
only
have
cost
M500
000
less.
Although
two
cheques
for
M700
000
had
been
written
to
pay
for
the
machine,
they
had
been
intercepted
by
National
Assembly
accounting
officers
after
a
tip-off.
The
new
machine,
a
Konic
Minolta
Bizhub
Pro
1050,
new
on
the
market,
can
produce
105
copies
a
minute.
In
a
sequel
to
this
report,
the
Clerk
of
the
National
Assembly,
Matlamukele
Matete,
and
the
Managing
Director
of
Itec
Lesotho,
Mrs
’Matieho
Khoele,
appeared
before
the
Maseru
Magistrate
on
3
August
2006
on
alleged
corruption
charges
related
to
the
inflation
of
the
price
of
the
machine
by
M595
365.55.
▲back
to top
The
calendar
year
2006
has
already
been
noted
for
record-breaking
rainfall,
but
that
was
in
summer.
August,
as
a
winter
month,
does
not
usually
have
significant
rainfall.
2006,
however,
has
proved
quite
different.
Roma
rainfall
figures
are
quoted,
but
the
exceptional
rain
and
snowfall
was
widespread.
 On
1
August,
rain
and
melted
snow
at
Roma
totalled
44
mm
and
on
the
following
day
59
mm.
The
mountains
around
the
Roma
valley
from
1900
m
upwards
and
the
whole
of
the
Maloti
were
as
a
consequence
covered
in
thick
snow.
Given
that
1mm
of
rain
corresponds
roughly
to
1cm
of
snow,
it
can
be
seen
that
snowfall
was
over
a
metre
in
depth,
and
as
a
result
many
vehicles
and
even
buses
were
trapped
on
mountain
roads.
For
example
some
10
vehicles
were
trapped
at
Blue
Mountain
(Thaba-Putsoa)
Pass,
and
a
bus
with
40
people
was
trapped
on
the
Mphosong
Pass
on
the
road
to
Katse.
Matters
were
made
worse
by
thick
mist
enveloping
the
mountains
for
the
two
following
days,
so
that
helicopters
could
not
reach
vehicles
and
some
people
spent
three
nights
trapped
in
vehicles
in
deep
snow.
In
the
end
a
combined
rescue
operation
by
Lesotho
and
South
African
helicopters
rescued
most
of
the
stranded
people
although
some
were
rushed
to
hospital
in
a
critical
condition.
In
the
case
of
a
13-month
baby,
who
had
been
rescued
with
her
mother
from
a
vehicle
stranded
en
route
to
Semonkong,
it
was
too
late.
The
baby
died
from
cold
soon
after
admission
to
St
Joseph’s
Hospital
at
Roma
Another
death
was
reported
from
Sani
Top
where
the
body
of
an
unidentified
man
was
found
in
the
snow
and
taken
to
the
mortuary
in
Underberg.
Many
deaths
from
exposure
in
remote
areas
away
from
roads
are
known
only
to
local
villagers,
and
news
does
not
reach
the
capital
unless
someone
is
rescued
and
hospitalized
and
interviewed.
Such
a
case
happened
when
a
survivor
was
taken
to
the
hospital
at
Teyateyaneng.
He
had
a
harrowing
tale
to
tell
and
this
was
reported
in
the
Mosotho
supplement
to
Public
Eye
of
11
August
2006.
He
had
set
off
with
his
elderly
father
on
a
journey
from
Pulane
to
the
upper
Jorotane
valley
crossing
the
Front
Range
of
the
Maloti
by
a
pass
known
as
Lekhalo
la
Maobane.
His
father
was
on
horseback,
but
he
was
on
foot.
As
they
climbed
the
pass,
it
began
snowing,
but
soon
after
they
had
reached
the
top
of
the
pass,
the
horse
stumbled,
and
it
became
apparent
that
it
was
exhausted.
Attempts
to
encourage
it
to
continue
were
of
no
avail
and
eventually
it
could
support
the
father
no
more.
As
he
was
helped
from
the
horse
it
keeled
over
and
fell
down
the
cliff
beside
the
narrow
path.
The
son
then
tried
to
carry
his
father,
but
he
soon
became
quite
exhausted
and
his
father
told
him
to
leave
him
to
die
in
the
snow,
so
that
at
least
one
of
them
might
survive.
The
son
returned
down
the
path
with
great
difficulty
in
the
deep
snow
which
was
still
falling
and
arrived
after
darkness
at
the
first
village
with
an
injured
arm.
This
necessitated
him
being
taken
to
the
hospital
where
he
told
his
story
to
a
member
of
the
Disaster
Management
Authority.
Public
Eye
Weekender
of
25
August
2006
told
the
story
of
a
woman
who
also
got
caught
in
the
snow
on
the
Front
Range
near
Mosalemane
Pass.
She
took
refuge
with
her
two
year
old
child
eating
soil
to
keep
alive
for
several
days.
She
was
eventually
helped
down
by
a
horseman,
but
frostbite
had
taken
its
toll
and
her
left
foot
had
to
be
amputated
in
the
hospital
at
Mapoteng.
Amongst
other
deaths
were
two
in
Mohale’s
Hoek
District
when
a
vehicle
skidded
into
another,
and
an
accident
involving
tourists
who,
against
advice,
attempted
the
steep
climb
up
the
Mphosong
valley
leading
to
Katse.
When
the
conditions
became
too
bad,
they
turned
round,
but
on
the
way
down
their
vehicle
left
the
road
and
went
down
the
hillside.
There
was
a
family
of
four
in
the
vehicle
and
one
died,
while
another
was
seriously
injured.
There
were
heroes
during
the
great
freeze-up.
One
was
Sam
Malokotsa
of
TeleCom
Lesotho.
The
snow
caught
him
at
Lejone
in
eastern
Lesotho,
where
he
found
his
route
back
to
the
Lowlands
blocked
by
snow.
He
heard
on
the
radio
that
the
weather
had
knocked
out
communications
in
eastern
Lesotho
and
he
then
took
it
upon
himself
to
try
to
help
to
restore
links,
one
of
which
is
the
microwave
repeater
station
at
Mokhoabong
close
to
the
road
from
Thaba-Tseka
to
Mantšonyane.
His
vehicle
could
not
get
to
Mokhoabong
because
of
deep
snow,
but
he
walked
the
remainder
of
the
journey
and
found
the
poor
security
guard
at
the
station
without
fuel
or
heat
and
already
suffering
from
frostbite.
According
to
 TeleCom,
which
took
a
half-page
advertisement
in
newspapers
to
tell
the
story,
he
saved
the
security
guard’s
life
and
at
the
same
time
set
the
switches
so
that,
when
power
was
restored,
the
communications
link
would
also
be
restored.
By
the
end
of
the
month
there
had
been
more
rain
and
snow,
and
the
Roma
total
for
August
was
171
mm,
easily
beating
the
next
wettest
August
in
the
past
74
years
of
records
which
was
August
1981
with
124
mm.
As
can
be
seen
from
the
chart,
August
rainfall
is
extremely
skewed,
and
in
the
past
74
years
no
less
than
22
years
have
been
without
rainfall
at
all.
▲back
to top
Not
everyone
was
unhappy
about
the
snow.
On
Saturday
12
August
there
was
an
official
opening
for
the
Afri
Ski
Leisure
Kingdom,
situated
at
around
3000m
on
the
road
from
Butha-Buthe
to
Mokhotlong,
some
14
km
beyond
Oxbow.
The
Minister
of
Tourism,
Lebohang
Ntšinyi,
well
padded
against
the
cold
for
the
occasion,
cut
a
ribbon
at
the
ski
resort
in
the
presence
of
the
South
African
owner,
Wessel
Bosman.
The
resort
already
has
accommodation
and
a
ski-lift,
and
at
dry
times
can
make
its
own
snow.
The
owner
looked
forward
to
10
years
time
when
the
resort
would
expand
to
accommodate
2
million
visitors
a
year.
The
Minister
had
her
own
dream,
and
that
was
that
Basotho
could
be
sent
to
the
Winter
Olympics.
▲back
to top
Lack
of
faith
in
the
justice
system
and
its
inordinate
delays
result
in
an
increasing
number
of
cases
where
villagers
take
matters
into
their
own
hands.
As
reported
by
several
newspapers,
a
25-year
old
murder
suspect,
Lehlohonolo
Hlalele
of
Seapoint,
Maseru,
was
burned
to
death
in
the
Maseru
suburb
of
Khubetsoana
on
10
August
2006.
The
police
newspaper,
Leseli
ka
Sepolesa
of
24
August
2006
reported
another
incident
in
the
Maseru
suburb
of
Qoaling
Ha
Monyane.
After
a
period
of
armed
attacks
an
unidentified
crowd
had
attacked
and
necklaced
(burned
to
death
using
a
tyre
filled
with
petrol)
a
suspect
aged
between
20
and
25.
▲back
to top
The
Southern
African
Regional
Police
Chiefs
Cooperation
Organisation
(SARPCCO),
which
has
12
member
countries,
met
in
Maseru
early
in
August
2006
for
its
eleventh
annual
meeting.
At
the
meeting
the
Lesotho
Mounted
Police
Service
Commissioner,
’Malejaka
Letooane,
was
elected
chair
of
the
organisation
with
responsibility
for
implementing
resolutions
from
the
Maseru
meeting.
Mrs
Letooane,
apart
from
having
long
service
with
the
LMPS,
holds
degrees
from
the
National
University
of
Lesotho,
University
of
South
Africa
(LLB),
and
Leicester
University
(Master
of
Criminal
Justice).
She
is
married
to
a
policeman
and
has
a
21-year
old
son.
▲back
to top
The
long-expected
development
of
the
Kao
Diamond
Mine
(see
full
description
and
map
in
Summary
of
Events,
vol.
12,
no.
1
(2005))
has
finally
got
the
go-ahead.
The
agreement
was
signed
at
Butha-Buthe
on
10
August
2006
by
the
Minister
of
Natural
Resources,
Dr
’Mamphono
Khaketla
and
the
Chairman
of
Kao
Diamond
Mine,
Chief
Masupha
Seeiso,
uncle
of
King
Letsie
III.
Phase
One
of
the
project,
which
will
now
go
ahead,
provides
for
processing
of
55
000
tons
of
kimberlite
per
month
at
a
cost
of
US$12
million.
Later
projected
phases
p |
