By Moss L. Leoka
“Why is Lesotho not part of South Africa?” This is a frequently asked question by people in Africa and other parts of the world alike. It is an inescapable question, given the glaring colonial absurdity of Lesotho’s location, completely within the borders of another sovereign state. In recent times, discussions around Lesotho integrating with South Africa have gained much traction, particularly among young Basotho who find it difficult to live and work in South Africa without legal permits.
Lesotho’s economic potential is constrained by its small size and the fact that the high Maluti Mountain range occupies two thirds of it’s land area, leaving a very narrow strip of arable land. Additionally, the country’s paucity of natural resources limits it’s ability to develop a viable industrial base that could create much needed jobs. This leads to many Basotho heading to South Africa to seek employment. The South Africa government, under pressure from its own civic bodies to stem illegal immigration, has responded by deporting thousands of undocumented foreigners every month.
As a South African Mosotho, the plight of Lesotho’s citizens in my country concerns me deeply. Reading about them being harassed and arrested for living and working in South Africa illegally pulls at my heartstrings. This is because, to me and many other South Africans, Basotho, like Batswana and MaSwati, are our kin. We do not regard them as foreigners, not in the legal sense of that term. I see that the South African government recently introduced the Lesotho Exemption Papers, which allow Basotho to stay in South Africa a bit longer. These measures, while commendable, only provide temporary relief and not a lasting solution to the problem.
Let me highlight some background facts that are germane to this discussion:
● Lesotho is resource-poor and it’s small economy cannot sustain its fast growing population.
● It was not out of choice that Basotho went to live in large numbers in what later became Lesotho. Before the arrival of the Dutch settlers, Basotho occupied a vast area that included most of today’s Free State province, parts of southern Gauteng province, southern Mpumalanga province and the northern parts of the Eastern Cape province, around Aliwal North, Herschell and Matatiele.
● One of the British Governors of the Cape Colony in the Nineteenth Century, Sir Benjamin Maitland, is implicated in how Basotho lost their land to Dutch settlers. Responding to King Moshoeshoe’s plea to Britain for protection against the encroaching Boer settlers, Maitland favored the settlers when he set up the Orange River Sovereignty on what was Basotho’s territory, for the exclusive occupation of the settlers, while declaring the tiny area across the Mohokare River to which Basotho had been coralled, as a British protectorate for them. That decision broke the Basotho nation into two, with some joining Moshoeshoe across the Mohokare River while the majority remained behind and became landless subjects and employees of the conquering settlers. Not too long thereafter, the rebellious Boer settlers declared the Orange River Sovereignty an independent Boer republic – Die Republiek van die Oranje Vrijstaat.
● Lesotho has the unfortunate distinction of being located completely within the borders of South Africa and it’s economy is largely dependent upon that of South Africa.
● There are increasing calls from some Basotho for the country to integrate with South Africa. These calls stem from the realization that the country’s small and fragile economy is incapable of sustaining its growing population.
The proponents of the integration project have not provided any indication of how they see it actually taking shape, beyond just calling for it. By throwing my two penny’s worth into this conversation, I intend to add flesh to the bone, so to speak. Also, I offer advice on what I think needs to be done in order for the project to garner wide support and avoid pushbacks. Finally, I present what I believe to be a more viable alternative to the Lesotho-South Africa integration proposition.
While the integration of Lesotho and South Africa is no silver bullet to the economic challenges of Lesotho, it would no doubt go a long way towards mitigating them. Even so, it’s proponents in Lesotho and South Africa need to ensure that they consult broadly and lobby all key stakeholders without exception. From political, traditional, religious, labour and business leaders, to the youth, retired soldiers and academics, all should be engaged. And crucially, civil society in both countries should be front and centre of discussions. It is the will of the people that should lead the way for change in democratic societies. Political leaders should take their cue from the people. In South Africa, lobbying should be focused mainly, though not exclusively, in the Free State province where most Basotho live.
The importance of consulting broadly about this matter cannot be overemphasized. Rushing to the media to call for Lesotho to become “a tenth province of South Africa,” as some in Lesotho have done, is not helpful. That approach will only antagonize people and lead to a pushback against the proposal. If Lesotho and South Africa do integrate, it will be because the majority of their citizens agree to it, not because a few overzealous fellows went to the SABC to announce their wishes. For a country to cede its sovereign status in favour of integrating with another is no small matter. It is a massive decision, a seismic shift in a nation’s life that requires strategic foresight and sober reflection by all concerned. Hence the need for wide consultation. Equally unhelpful were those who recently went to the United Nations with the fanciful idea of pleading for the “reclamation of the Free State province.” For them and their fellow travelers, a few truth bombs are in order:
Prior to being driven off the territory that later became the Free State, Basotho were not the sole occupiers of that land. They shared it with many other tribes. Among them were King Moroka’s Barolong, who still occupy the central areas around Thaba Nchu and Mangaung today. There were also Queen Manthatisi’s Batlokwa as well as Makholokoe, who today still occupy the north eastern parts around Qwa-Qwa, Bethlehem, Harrismith and the surrounding areas. As a matter of fact, many Basotho remained in the Free State while others later re-entered from Lesotho to seek employment on settler farms and towns.
When the territory that later became the Free State was conquered, Lesotho did not yet exist, at least not as a sovereign state. Therefore, calling for the ‘reclamation of the Free State’ is a nonstarter because the country cannot reclaim what it never had in the first place. Even under international law, the reclamation brigade seems to have no leg to stand on.
Earlier this year, Advocate Batlokoa Makong, who is advisor to the CEO of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism, wrote an instructive paper about this issue, titled: A Critical Analysis of Lesotho’s Quest for It’s Conquered Territory. His analysis is worth paraphrasing here. Adv. Makong refers us to a 1962 resolution of the United Nations General Assembly (Resolution 1817), which urged the United Kingdom, then the colonial authority of Lesotho, “to take immediate steps to return all land that had been taken from the Basotho people regardless of the justifications given for such action.” He continues: “Notably, the resolution did not mention the return of conquered territory by South Africa, already then recognized as a sovereign state and founding member of the United Nations. This responsibility was squarely placed on the UK.”
Makong points out, correctly, that the United Nations General Assembly cannot make binding recommendations to its member states and that only it’s Security Council can issue binding decisions. He points out that Lesotho committed itself irrevocably to the principle of respecting the borders that existed on the day of its independence in 1964. He further refers to the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government which, at its First Ordinary Session held in Cairo, Egypt, in 1964, adopted a resolution (Resolution AHG/Res.16) which considered that the borders of African states, on the day of their independence, constituted a tangible reality. He argues that Lesotho has never been a persistent and consistent objector to that principle of respecting borders as they existed on achievement of national independence. He says what complicates matters more is that when Lesotho ratified the African Union Constitutive Act in 2001, it affirmed it’s acceptance of the principle of respecting borders as they existed on achievement of independence.
Those who are on the Free State reclamation bandwagon have their work cut out for them. Not only will they have to contend with international law, they will also face stern opposition from the descendants of those Dutch conquerors and from South African Basotho, Barolong, Makholokoe and Batlokwa, who will never agree to the cession of the Free State to Lesotho. Credit should go to the Lesotho government for distancing itself from that crazy idea.
Crazy ideas notwithstanding, I do believe there are compelling reasons why Lesotho and South Africa should consider integrating:
● Basotho on both sides of the Mohokare River belong to the same ethnic group, share the same language, culture and family ties. Plus they pay allegiance to the same king. As we have seen, the nation was split asunder by the British.
● The two countries’ economies are largely integrated. They share a common monetary area and Lesotho’s currency, the Luti, is pegged to the South African Rand on a one-to-one basis.
● Lesotho’s fragile economy is increasingly incapable of sustaining its fast growing population. If Lesotho integrates with South Africa, Basotho will have access to more and better job opportunities in a much larger economy.
● Lesotho’s location, a hundred percent within the borders of South Africa, does not bode well for the longterm security of both countries.
During the period leading up to the end of apartheid, there were debates in South Africa on whether Lesotho should form part of a democratic South Africa. Professor Roger Southall, then Head of the Department of Political Studies at Rhodes University, wrote a paper on the subject in 1990, titled: “Lesotho and The Re-integration of South Africa.” Southall pointed out that small countries such as Lesotho, Botswana and eSwatini would remain in economic backwaters for as long as they continued to cling to their current independent statuses. He argued that if these countries were to “hitch their wagons to the South African horse, they would be enabled to enjoy the prosperity of a larger economic unit while still retaining their cultural independence.” He noted, though, that states do not easily give up their sovereign statuses, but that under favorable circumstances they may federate.
Even so, Southall acknowledged that “indeed there may be grounds for Lesotho to at least consider the option of integration with a democratic South Africa.” He cited two such grounds. The first one was that Chief Maama Letsie attended the founding conference of the ANC in Mangaung, Bloemfontein, in 1912. The second one was that Lesotho’s civil society was already debating the issue of their country and South Africa integrating in some way.
Let me now home in on how I see Lesotho and South Africa integrating. I will call this section Scenario One. Under this scenario, both the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of South Africa hold referendums to test if their citizens agree to Lesotho becoming a kind of “super province” of the Republic of South Africa for a trial period of 30 years. The aim should be that during that trial period and beyond, Lesotho should enjoy a semi-autonomous status, with its own government, while still within the unitary state of South Africa. It would retain most of its powers, including the right to collect and retain its tax revenue. It would retain all but five ministries, which would be ceded to the central government in Pretoria. These ministries are: Foreign Affairs; Finance; Defence; Trade & Industry (economic affairs) and Home Affairs. It goes without saying that the proposed integration would not work unless at least those five ministries were centralized.
HOW WOULD LESOTHO BENEFIT FROM THIS?
Important trade-offs for Lesotho could include the following:
● From the get-go during the 30-year trial period, Lesotho’s citizens should enjoy automatic dual citizenships of both Lesotho and South Africa. This would allow them to work and reside anywhere in South Africa and be able to access all social services that are enjoyed by South African citizens.
● Lesotho should retain its current parliament and government structures, except for the five ministries referred to above.
● Lesotho’s prime minister, in addition to heading government in Lesotho, could serve as Minister in the Presidency in the central cabinet in Pretoria.
● The South African parliament should appoint some members of the Lesotho parliament to serve as deputy ministers in South Africa’s ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Defence, Trade & Industry and Home Affairs (the ceded ministries). South Africa would need their knowledge of Lesotho’s social, economic and political landscape. For the same reasons, civil servants from Lesotho should be added to those ceded ministries.
● While Lesotho would keep all its tax revenue, Pretoria should allocate additional funding for Lesotho to help the country to bring it’s social security grants as well as it’s civil servants’ salaries and pensions on par with those of South Africa.
● Lesotho would save money since it would no longer require border and port management services, nor its own ambassadors and embassies around the world.
● Lesotho citizens would be able to purchase assets in South Africa on credit or on lease. Currently, they pay cash and can’t even get motorplan when they purchase vehicles in South Africa. These and similar inconveniences would end.
● Other benefits that Basotho would gain from integrating with South Africa are free housing for first time home owners below certain income levels, free education, free healthcare, electricity and piped water. Lesotho’s economy would be boosted by improvements to it’s infrastructure, tourism and industrial development.
● At the end of the 30-year trial period, the two countries should hold a second round of referendums, this time to find out if their citizens are happy with the integration. If the results of the referendums come out positive, the integration would be made permanent. If, on the other hand, the results are negative, the experiment would be abandoned and everything would revert to the status quo ante.
From both a legal and socio-economic point of view, integrating Lesotho and South Africa should be relatively easy to achieve, given that the two countries already share a lot in common. In the end, it should boil down to whether the proposed integration appeals to the majority of people in both countries and more importantly, on whether political leaders in Lesotho would look beyond sentimental trappings of national sovereignty and put the long-term well-being of their people above everything else.
HOW WOULD SOUTH AFRICA BENEFIT FROM THIS?
At face value, it may appear as though South Africa would gain little from integrating with Lesotho. Even so, the benefits would be huge. Perhaps the biggest benefit would be the peace of mind that South Africa would get, knowing that there no longer is a sovereign nation located within its borders. While it is true that relations between these two countries have been good since the advent of democracy in South Africa, there is no guarantee that this fraternal environment will last forever. Say, hypothetically, Lesotho decides to lease a portion of its territory to a superpower that happens to be hostile to South Africa. While Lesotho would be within its rights to do so, that decision could cause a lot of security concerns in Pretoria.
Lesotho’s population of two million plus people, mostly youth under the age of thirty, would be a demographic windfall for South Africa. Basotho are educated, hardworking and peaceful. They would be an invaluable addition to South Africa’s social and cultural fabric. Lesotho would add in no small measure to South Africa’s tourism offering. The tourism potential of it’s highlands is huge and yet to be fully realized.
A socio-political pivot of this magnitude is bound to have its naysayers. Some in South Africa may fear that the addition of over two million Basotho to their population could exacerbate the huge challenges already facing the country, such as unemployment. In Lesotho, politicians and other elites may feel threatened by the prospect of integrating their tiny country with a behemoth such as South Africa. Such responses would be normal.
According to Prof. Southall, “in order for such a unity to be embraced, there should be trade-offs in the form of mutual benefits that could be derived by both sides. Lesotho would cede some of its sovereign powers in exchange for something without which it would be poorer.” On the other hand, South Africa would have to absorb two million Basotho in exchange for the demographic dividend it would get, plus the peace of mind that would result from knowing that there is no sovereign entity in the middle of its territory.
South Africa should be prepared to pay a premium in order to induce Lesotho to integrate with it, for the sake of its own longterm peace and stability. Besides, Lesotho’s population of 2.4 million is smaller than that of Soweto. Adding it to our population of 64 million would not cause even a ripple on social services.
It would be critical that the promoters of this integration project consult widely without leaving out any stakeholders. Granted, it will take time as well as human and financial resources to do all the necessary lobbying. But there should be no cutting of corners. Furthermore, it would help a great deal if the project were to be promoted on a non-partisan basis. Lastly, and crucially, in their communication, the promoters should be sensitive to the feelings of the people of Lesotho specifically. Any condescending attitude that treats Basotho as “less than,” can only result in a pushback. In my view, suggestions that Lesotho should be a “tenth province of South Africa,” verge on condescending. While there is no denying that Lesotho is much smaller than South Africa physically, economically and population-wise, these two sovereign states are equal under international law. Therefore, when they integrate they will be doing so as equals.
SCENARIO TWO
THE SACU MEMBER COUNTRIES FEDERATE
The difficulty that Lesotho nationals experience when they try to work and live in South Africa is also experienced by nationals of other countries neighbouring South Africa. My Scenario Two proposes a federation of the member states of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), namely, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. That portends a regional economic powerhouse that would be without equal on the continent.
The SACU member states share a lot in common already. They are all located in the same region of the continent. As members of the same customs union, their economies are largely integrated. The customs union ensures free trade between them and creates a common external tariff for goods from outside the union. Apart from Botswana, they belong to a common monetary area, with currencies pegged to the South African Rand on a one-to-one basis. The Botswana Pula is fixed to a basket of foreign currencies that include the South African Rand, the US Dollar, the British Pound, the Euro and the Japanese Yen. They share a similar business culture and a similar legal system. They are all English speaking, are members of the British Commonwealth and they are stable democracies.
A federation of the SACU countries could happen fairly quickly, without needing any 30-year familiarization period. An independent electoral commission from the region could conduct referendums in the five countries, while a constituent assembly could be tasked with drafting a federal constitution that would, among other things, outline the powers to be ceded to the federal government by the federating states.
I want to believe that such a federation would create huge excitement among all communities in the five countries, with many in support of it. Of course, we should expect that some people would pooh-pooh the idea. Domestic elites in some of the countries may fear losing power and influence, while nationalists may fear losing identity in a larger multicultural country. Opposition could also come from outside the region, particularly from the countries of the collective West, who would fear losing the control and leverage they currently wield over the smaller countries through the donations they dole out to them annually. A federation of southern African states would be a stark reminder to them that the world no longer orbits around the West.
Opportunities that could be unlocked by such a federation could be enormous beyond belief. Just consider the following salient points: The federation would cover an area of some 2 674 554 sq/km, making it the largest country in Africa, with a population of about 73 million. It would boast a sea coast of 5 223 kms in length, making the country easy to secure since about 60% of it’s border would be made up of the Atlantic and the Indian oceans. It would boast the largest economy on the continent, with a nominal GDP of $467,5 billion (2025) and a GDP per capita of approximately $6 048, the third best on the continent after those of Mauritius and Seychelles. It would have 10 major sea ports and 41 universities, more than any country on the continent.
In addition to a vast human capital, the federation would boast a wealth of natural resources. South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Lesotho all produce some of the best diamonds in the world and they possess the requisite skills to cut and polish them.
Gaborone could become the diamond centre of the world, instead of Belgium, which currently wears that crown even though it is not a diamond producer. In addition to diamonds, Namibia is a serious producer of uranium and has vast offshore oil and gas deposits, while Botswana has vast deposits of coal. South Africa also has vast deposits of coal as well as natural gas along its Indian Ocean waters. This new country would be energy self-sufficient.
South Africa has significant mineral resources that include the world’s largest proven deposits of platinum group metals (85%), as well as minerals that are strategic to military electronics and other technology applications, such as titanium, iridium, uranium, manganese, chrome, vanadium, lithium and rare earth elements that are critical for the energy transition. As the most industrialized country on the continent, South Africa has the capacity to manufacture just about any goods that the federation would require.
The federation’s industrial base could be enhanced even more, if the federal government were to introduce a policy of industrial decentralization, whereby large manufacturers are incentivized through subsidies and tax breaks to locate some of their manufacturing operations in the provinces and regional cities and towns, in order to stem the inevitable flow of people to the large metropolitan centres in search of employment.
The region is endowed with a world class tourism industry, with game parks that would rival those of East Africa. South Africa has the Kruger National Park, Madikwe National Park, Kgalakgadi Transfrontier Park and the Pilanesberg National Park, plus numerous world-class private game reserves. Botswana has the Chobe National Park, Moremi Game Reserve, Gemsbok Park, Makgadikgadi Pans and the world renowned Okavango Delta. Namibia boasts the Etosha National Park, Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, Skeleton Coast National Park, Mahango Game Park, as well as many private game parks.
Lesotho’s highlands have the most ideal conditions on the continent for generating wind power, while they could also supply a sizable portion of the federation’s water. South Africa, Namibia and Botswana have ideal regions for solar power generation.
As can be gleaned from the foregoing data, a country made up of the SACU member states would be the envy of the world. Some people would argue for a federation of the member states of the even larger Southern African Development Community (SADC). Such a federation, while not impossible, would be unwieldy at best. At worst, it would be difficult to manage due to the number of countries involved. We are talking about 15 states that include four islands, the furthest of which, Mauritius, is located approximately 2 000 km off the African mainland. Then there is the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, which lie far outside the southern African region. All these factors, plus the many disparities that exist between them, mean that a federation of the SADC states could take years to bring about and difficult to manage once formed.
In conclusion, my proposing a federation of the SACU member states should not in any way be seen as detracting from the calls for Lesotho to integrate with South Africa. I am merely tabling an alternative option that I believe could be a path of least resistance. The Lesotho-South Africa proposition has its merits and should be pursued. People are currently suffering due to the border that separates these two countries and a long-lasting solution needs to be found soon. All caring Basotho, on both sides of the Mohokare River, should be seized with finding a solution to this problem.