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African Kingdoms

South Africa

 

Modern Lesotho / Kingdom of Lesotho (Africa)
AD 1966 - Present Day

The pre-history of Africa contains a far longer period of human habitation than any other area on Earth, thanks to it being the cradle of humankind's evolution. South Africa consists of a series of undulating plateaus which cover much of the region and extend northwards into Central Africa's Angola. The Kalahari desert forms a central depression in the Southern African plateau, while scrubland and grasslands cover much of the region's remainder.

Indigenous natives belong to one of two language families: Khoisan or Bantu. The former were first to be established, having inhabited the region for millennia. They were displaced in many areas by Bantu speakers. Regional archaeological and historical enquiry has been extremely uneven, with Namibia being the least-intensively studied while South Africa is at the opposite end of that scale. Establishing a coherent historical framework of events is an often controversial process with little universal agreement.

The modern Lesotho kingdom is relatively unusual in the fact that it has survived in a little-changed format since the early 1800s, and with the same ruling family despite going through the usual process of colonial occupation and subsequent independence.

It is a landlocked island state in western South Africa, with the union of South Africa nation state surrounding it on all sides (and kwaZulu-Natal forming Lesotho's eastern neighbour within that union), along with highlands which mean that many of the kingdom's villages can be reached only on horseback, by foot, or by light aircraft. The country has a population of a little over two million, Sesotho being their main language along with English.

The founders of this country were a mixture of Sotho (or Basotho) and Tswana people, Bantu-speaking groups which entered the region between about the seventeenth century and nineteenth century. The origins of at least some of their clans could be traced back to the late 1700s, notably the Bakoteli clan which provided the basis for the foundation of the Basuto clan state.

Unlike the nearby Swazi though, more recent Basuto migrations are likely to have been localised. Modern traditions have the Basuto people emerging from the ground at Ntsoana-Tsatsi, a location which contains reeds and a good deal of water. This is believed to be Vrede in the 'Free State Province' of South Africa.

The location still carries this name and some Sotho people are still to be found in the area. Their arrival here is believed to be much earlier, perhaps as far back as the fifth century AD. The Tswana are understood to have emerged as a separate group by about the fourteenth century.

A single Basuto clan state state eventually emerged in the early nineteenth century. Not all Basuto people formed part of the state, with at least one other large group existing under the same name. Those Basuto may have been connected to the Makololo who controlled territory in Barotseland.

The new Basuto state was quickly drawn under British control as the 'Protectorate of Basutoland', largely on a mutually-agreed basis in order to protect it from Boer settlers who wanted the land. That protection was light at first, which meant that the Basuto had to fight alone in the Free State-Basotho War in 1858. Understanding this, Britain renewed and strengthened protections under a stronger protectorate from 1868.

The state gained autonomy from Britain in 1965 as the kingdom of Basutoland. Full independence from Britain followed a year and-a-half later, on 30 October 1966, by which time Basutoland had already become Lesotho (on 4 October 1966). The name roughly translates as the 'country of the Sesotho-speaking people'.

Departing the empire on friendly terms, Lesotho remained within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Chief Leabua Jonathan of the 'Basotho National Party' (founded in 1959) serving as the country's first prime minister.

Resources are scarce and a large proportion of people live below the poverty line - a consequence of the harsh environment of the highland plateau and limited agricultural space in the lowlands. The former British protectorate had been heavily dependent upon South Africa, and modern Lesotho to an extent remains so.

Over many decades, thousands of workers have been forced by the lack of job opportunities to find work in South African mines. The Lesotho 'Highlands Water Project' was completed in the 1990s to export water to South Africa, this being a natural resource which Lesotho certainly does have in plentiful supply. The kingdom's capital is at Maseru, which is also its largest city.

Kafue National Park in Zambia, by Bret Love and Mary Gabbett

Principal author(s): Page created: Page last updated:

(Information by Peter Kessler and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information from Urban Africa; Histories in the Making (Africa's Urban Past), David M Anderson & Richard Rathbone (Eds), from Africana: The Encyclopaedia of the African and African American Experience, Anthony Appiah & Henry Louis Gates (Oxford University Press, 2005), from The New Atlas of African History, G S P Freeman-Grenville (Rex Collins, London, 1991), from Times Atlas of World History (Maplewood, 1979), from World Population Prospects, Table A1, Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2009), and from External Links: Encyclopaedia Britannica, and BBC Country Profiles, and the New York Times, and Lesotho Genealogy.)

1966 - 1970

Moshoeshoe II

King, 30 Oct 1966-10 Feb 1970. Exiled until later in the year.

1970

The ruling national party loses the first general election, but the prime minister, Leabua Jonathan, refuses to cede power to the winning opposition. Instead he declares himself as having been returned as the country's head of state.

King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho
Moshoeshoe II enjoyed an 'interesting' time as the leader of his people, being promoted from paramount chief of Basutoland to king in 1965, renaming the state as Lesotho in 1966, and twice being sent into exile during his kingdom's troubled political situation (he is shown here with Princess Marina representing Queen Elizabeth II during Lesotho's independence celebrations)

A low-level and generally ineffective revolt begins against him whilst the king is reduced to the role of ceremonial monarch and is temporarily sent into exile in the Netherlands.

1970

Leabua Jonathan

Head of state, 10 Feb-5 Jun 1970.

1970

Mamohato

Wife of Moshoeshoe II. Queen regent, 5 Jun-5 Dec 1970.

1970

Mamohato performs the role of regent for the country between 5 June and 5 December 1970. By this time, Leabua Jonathan has regained control of the country and feels that it is safe for the king to return. Jonathan retains full executive powers, however, and Moshoeshoe is little more than a ceremonial ruler.

1970 - 1990

Moshoeshoe II

Restored, 5 Dec 1970-10 Mar 1990. Exiled again in 1987.

1986 - 1990

South Africa blockades the state, demanding the expulsion of anti-apartheid activists. A military coup forces out of office the ruling party of Chief Jonathan, and a military council is established by Major-General Justin Lekhanya which grants executive power to the king, but after a falling out in the following year (in 1987) the king again goes into exile.

Leabua Jonathan removed in 1986
A military coup toppled Chief Leabua Jonathan on 20 January 1986, the power behind the throne since independence was achieved, after South Africa had instituted a twenty-day blockade in order to force the turnover of ANC guerrillas

He retains the title of king until 1990. His wife, Queen Mamohato, acts as regent between 10 March and 12 November 1990, after which the tribal college of chiefs picks a successor and her son is sworn in as king.

1990

Mamohato

Queen regent again, 10 Mar-12 Nov 1990.

1990 - 1995

Letsie III

Son. King, 12 Nov 1990-25 Jan 1995. Abdicated.

1991 - 1995

The military junta changes hands in 1991, with Major-General Lekhanya being forced out by Colonel Elias Tutsoane Ramaema. The ban on political activity is lifted and, as a result, power is handed over to a democratically elected government in 1993.

This fails to achieve stability within the kingdom, however, and fighting is sparked between rival army factions in 1994. During this uncertainty, Moshoeshoe returns as a private citizen in 1992 and Letsie abdicates in favour of his father being restored to the throne in 1995.

Modern Lesotho
Beautiful, culturally distinct, and an undisputed jewel in the crown of the African continent, the mountainous country of Lesotho is a veritable paradise, but one with a strong streak of human poverty

1995 - 1996

Moshoeshoe II

Restored, 25 Jan 1995-15 Jan 1996. Died in a car accident.

1996

Almost exactly one year after regaining his throne, the fifty-seven year-old Moshoeshoe dies in a potentially questionable car accident, and his wife assumes the position of regent for the second time, between 15 January and 7 February.

Her son, Letsie III, then succeeds Moshoeshoe on the throne for a second time. However, by this stage the monarch has no legislative or executive powers. The majority of his duties are ceremonial.

1996

Mamohato

Queen regent for a third time, 15 Jan-7 Feb 1996.

1996 - Present

Letsie III

Returned to the throne from 7 Feb 1996.

1997 - 1999

The 'Basutoland Congress Party' dismisses Ntsu Mokhehle as its leader, so he forms the 'Lesotho Congress of Democrats' (abbreviated as 'LCD'). In the following year he wins the general elections and Pakalitha Mosisili becomes prime minister.

Dr Ntsu Mokhehle, Lesotho's third prime minister
Dr Ntsu Mokhehle was born on 26 December 1918, becoming Lesotho's third post-independence prime minister in 1993-1994 and 1994-1998, prior to his death on 6 January 1999

The opposition stages protests against the results and rioting breaks out. At the government's urging the 'South African Development Community' (or SADC) sends in a joint Botswanan-South African military force to help restore order, and that force remains until 1999.

2004

In February, Prime Minister Mosisili declares a state of emergency and appeals for food aid. Aid officials state that hundreds of thousands face shortages after a three-year struggle against drought. Bizarrely, perhaps, March sees the official opening of the first phase of the multi-billion-dollar 'Lesotho Highlands Water Project', which supplies water to South Africa.

2014 - 2015

Prime Minister Thomas Thabane briefly flees to South Africa in August 2014, alleging a military coup against him. South Africa becomes involved in mediating during the crisis, and elections are brought forwards by almost two years in an effort to sort out the kingdom's fractious political state.

Katse Dam, Lesotho
The year 2004 saw the opening of the first phase of the 'Lesotho Highlands Water Project', which would supply the kingdom's most plentiful natural resource to South Africa - and by 2006, the Katse Dam was the highest in Africa

Held in February 2015, the 'Democratic Congress' (DC) party ousts Thabane's 'All Basotho Congress' party (or ABC) by uniting with smaller parties. After the election produces no clear winner, Pakalitha Mosisili heads the country's second consecutive coalition government.

Prince Lerotholi Seeiso

Son and heir. Born 2007.

 
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