- Lesotho not benefiting enough from its water deals with SA
Mohalenyane Phakela
COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER, Thesele ‘Maseribane, has called on the Lesotho and South African governments to begin fresh negotiations to amend the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) agreement to ensure that it fully benefits Lesotho. He also called on the two countries to renegotiate other bilateral agreements to ensure better treatment for hundreds of thousands of Basotho working and residing in South Africa.
Chief Maseribane, who leads the Basotho National Party (BNP), a traditional ally of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), has previously publicly voiced his concern over the ill-treatment he claims him and Prime Minister Thomas Thabane were allegedly subjected to by the South African government when the duo were in exile in that country from 2015 to 2017.
In September 2019, Chief ‘Maseribane used Dr Thabane’s 80th birthday celebrations in Maseru to register his displeasure with the South African authorities for this alleged ill-treatment despite the refuge and other forms of assistance he said the former BNP government under the late Chief Leabua Jonathan had given to South African exiles in Lesotho from the 1960s until the advent of majority rule in South Africa in 1994.
Early this week, he voiced his concerns about the unfavourable treatment of Basotho residing in South Africa and called for the two governments to begin fresh talks to review their bilateral relations.
He made the call at a BNP rally in Teyateyaneng which was also attended by representatives of South Africa’s ruling ANC. The ANC delegation was in the country to attend the BNP’s commemoration of the 9 December 1982 massacre of 12 Basotho and 30 South Africans in Maseru by commandos of SA’s then apartheid army. The raid was authorised by the apartheid government of PW Botha which was hell bent on eliminating ANC cadres seeking refuge in Lesotho and other southern African states.
Speaking at the rally, Chief Maseribane railed against South African regulations requiring Basotho studying in that country to pay for study permits, medical insurance and other costs yet South Africans including current Finance Minister Tito Mboweni studied in Lesotho for free.
“Ntate Ramaphosa (SA president) knows that I am not afraid to face the facts. For Basotho to study in your country, they are required to pay hefty fees for study permits, medical aid and insurance. Ntate Mboweni was taught at the National University of Lesotho for free. ANC, Batswana and Zimbabweans were all taught for freely at different Lesotho institutions and the same should apply to Basotho studying in South Africa.
“Ntate Thabane, even if we have not yet discussed these issues as a government, I now speak boldly about them on behalf of BNP,” Chief Maseribane said.
He also called for a review of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) agreement for Lesotho to supply water to South Africa, saying in its current form the treaty did not fully benefit Lesotho.
The LHWP was first agreed in 1986 between the Lesotho and South African governments to supply South Africa with water from Lesotho in exchange for royalties. Lesotho also benefits from the generation of electricity from the project.
According to the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA), Lesotho has received a total of M9, 9 billion from November 1996 to July 2019 for the transfer of 15 453, 20 million cubic metres of water to South Africa.
But Chief Maseribane is adamant that the agreement is not in the best interests of Lesotho and the country could get a better deal from a re-negotiated agreement.
“It is time to call South Africa to fresh negotiations as we cannot maintain the water price which was set way back then when the (LHWP) treaty was signed.
“We need to review the water treaty to discuss water transfer prices. Their (South African) economy is growing rapidly due to the water we supply them but if we look at how much we get for that water, it is a disgrace.” Chief Maseribane said.
