The coup in Lesotho

Press, 27 January 1986, Page 20

The coup in Lesotho

Spare a kind thought for Lesotho. Poor in most resources except people and water, the mountainous little State is entirely surrounded by the territory of South Africa and the Transkei “homeland.” Since independence nearly 20 years ago it has had little choice but to go along with the demands of its much larger neighbour.

The South African Government rammed the point home this year when it imposed a border blockade on January 1 because it believed Lesotho was giving sanctuary to terrorists from the African National Council. Supplies of such items as petrol and milk ran short within days. Thanks to last week’s coup in Maseru, the Lesotho capital, the border is open again. Small wonder the coup has been welcomed by many people in Lesotho. South Africa can hardly avoid accusations that it had a hand in fomenting the coup. Almost certainly it did. The deposed Lesotho Prime Minister, Chief Leabua Jonathan, deserves little sympathy. He has ruled for 19 years, for most of that time without elections; and he has been ready enough to kill, jail, and exile his political opponents. There are thousands of black South African refugees in Lesotho; there are hundreds of black Lesotho refugees in South Africa. Chief Jonathan himself was ready enough to take South African help in earlier times when he was establishing his little dictatorship. When an election went against him in 1970, he suspended the constitution and his paramilitary police killed about 500 people in months of ragged fighting. So far, no-one has been killed in the coup that has deposed him. Changes can be expected in Lesotho under its new military council. Already Major-General Justin Lekhanye has said that the country’s King, Moshoeshoe 11, is to have legislative and executive powers returned to him. All political power was stripped from the monarchy by Chief Jonathan in 1970, a source of lingering dissatisfaction for many people in Lesotho. Relations with South Africa are improving rapidly. Active members of the A.N.C. in Lesotho may be forced to leave the

country, or may run the risk of being handed over to South African authorities. The A.N.C. will be damaged, for Lesotho has been an important transit base for young black South Africans heading for military training at camps in Tanzania and Angola. The country has also served as a way back into South Africa for trained terrorists.

To South Africa, Lesotho’s surplus of water is at least as important as any part it may have had in providing help for the recent increases in black violence in the republic. When the Basuto people retreated into the mountains in the nineteenth century, seeking refuge from stronger black and white tribes, they inadvertently took over one of the best watered territories in southern Africa.

For the last five years, South Africa has been trying to persuade Lesotho to export water in a scheme expected to cost $4 billion. Chief Jonathan had procrastinated on the scheme. Almost certainly the scheme will now go ahead, a great benefit to South African industry and to dry cities such as Johannesburg. Whatever part South Africa played in the coup, many people in Lesotho will be pleased by the outcome. Hostility to South Africa could win easy applause from South Africa’s ill-wishers who did not have to live with the results. Life in Lesotho is likely to become more peaceful and more prosperous under rulers who do not deliberately provoke South African reprisals. The South African Government may not be shy about admitting some part in events. What has happened in Lesotho could serve as a warning to other black States that harbour violent opponents of the South African system. No other State is as vulnerable to South African pressure; but several, such as Botswana and Zimbabwe, depend heavily on the South African transport system for their survival. In Zimbabwe, especially, oppressed and dissatisfied groups may already be receiving South African support. One important message from Lesotho must be that South Africa, in spite of its internal problems, retains considerable power to influence events in neighbouring countries.