Leemisa Thuseho
THE governments of Lesotho and South Africa have agreed to repatriate the remains of South African anti-apartheid freedom fighters who perished during the 1982 and 1985 Maseru raids by the apartheid state.
The repatriation process is scheduled to begin in March this year.
The South African Defence Force (SADF) raided Maseru on 9 December 1982 and 20 December 1985, killing a total of 42 people — 30 members of the now-ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its military wing, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), as well as 12 Basotho nationals. The victims were buried at Thibella Cemetery in Maseru.
On both occasions, the SADF invaded the capital under the pretext of searching for ANC operatives who had sought refuge in Lesotho while fleeing apartheid persecution.
The commencement of the repatriation process follows a four-day visit to Lesotho by South Africa’s Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Ms Peace Mabe. The visit began on Sunday and concluded yesterday.
Ms Mabe said the repatriation from Lesotho forms part of South Africa’s Five-Year Plan under the Exile Repatriation Project — an initiative aimed at bringing home liberation fighters buried in unmarked graves across Africa, including Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, in order to restore their dignity and provide closure to their families.
She said a Joint South Africa–Lesotho Repatriation Task Team has been established and is ready to begin the process, although she said it was difficult to provide definitive completion timelines.
The visit included bilateral meetings between Ms Mabe and Lesotho’s Minister of Tourism, Sport, Arts and Culture, Motlatsi Maqelepo, aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two countries in sport, arts, culture and heritage.
“During the visit, we engaged on matters that bind our ministries together, including the commencement of the implementation of South Africa’s Five-Year Plan of the Exile Repatriation Project in the Kingdom of Lesotho,” Ms Mabe said.
“The primary focus was the repatriation and dignified commemoration of South African freedom fighters who perished during the 1982 and 1985 Maseru raids.”
Ms Mabe and her delegation also undertook a site visit to Thibella Cemetery on Tuesday to pay respect to the fallen freedom fighters and to engage traditional leaders and local authorities on the forthcoming work of the Joint Task Team.
“The mission will focus on documentation review, grave mapping, authorised DNA sampling where required, and consultations on future exhumations, undertaken in close cooperation with the Government of Lesotho and in accordance with its laws and cultural practices,” she said.
Ms Mabe further emphasised that the Exile Repatriation Project was about dignity, historical justice and the preservation of South Africa’s liberation heritage.
“The visit reaffirmed the shared commitment of South Africa and Lesotho to honouring liberation sacrifices, preserving shared heritage, and strengthening bilateral relations grounded in solidarity, mutual respect and a common history,” she said.
For his part, Mr Maqelepo said the repatriation represented an occasion of profound moral, historical and symbolic importance.
“We regard it not merely as an administrative process, but as an act of dignity, remembrance and healing for families, communities and our nations,” Mr Maqelepo said.
He added the bilateral engagement between Lesotho and South Africa extends beyond remembrance, noting that it seeks to build a future-oriented partnership anchored in arts, culture, heritage and sport as tools for social cohesion, economic development and people-to-people relations.
“In the area of arts and culture, our two countries are committed to strengthening exchange programmes for artists, cultural practitioners and administrators,” he said.
During the bilateral meeting, both ministers also agreed on several areas of collaboration, including capacity building in sport, arts, culture and heritage, and the joint celebration of Lesotho’s 60th anniversary of independence in October this year.
They further agreed to spearhead joint programmes between South African and Lesotho sports organisations.
Both ministers encouraged officials to explore opportunities for skills development in film production and incubation programmes for Basotho creatives, as well as the development of joint initiatives such as cross-border school sports programmes and community sport projects.
