[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
dam-l Unrest in Lesotho <fwd>
>From today's BBC web site:
Tuesday, September 22, 1998 Published at 13:08 GMT 14:08 UK
World: Africa
Lesotho and its big brother
Tanks entered at dawn to ''restore stability''
South Africa's decision to send 600 troops into Lesotho is
the first
time it has engaged in military intervention since apartheid.
Lesotho, an impoverished mountainous kingdom of two million
people, is entirely surrounded by its powerful neighbour.
During the apartheid years, the white-led government in
Pretoria
intervened in or blockaded Lesotho on several occcasions
to counter
developments that met with its disapproval.
South Africa's apartheid rulers also sent troops across
its borders to
take part in wars elsewhere - namely in Angola and Namibia.
But since all-race elections in 1994, South Africa has
kept to a policy
of peaceful mediation in African conflicts.
The soldiers killed in Lesotho were the first South
Africans to die in
active service since apartheid ended.
Lesotho is completely economically and politically dependent on
South Africa.
Some 35% of male wage earners
work over the border - many of them
in the mines.
Remittances from miners working in
South Africa added 33% to the
GDP in 1996.
Almost all Lesotho's electricity
comes from South Africa which also
operates its railways, according
to1996 statistics.
But the kingdom recently
completed a $2 bn dam project
enabling it to sell water to its
neighbour.
The water trasfer scheme channels
26 cubic metres per second from
Lesotho's mountains to the dry
industrial heartland of South Africa.
President Nelson Mandela, who attended the opening ceremony in
January, said the project testified to a new spirit of
co-operation in
Africa.
The mobilisation of South African
troops caps weeks of unrest by
opposition demonstrators in Lesotho
who claim the May elections were
rigged.
Although 12 parties and 30
independents participated in the
polls Lesotho's ruling Congress for
Democracy Party won 79 out of 80
of the seats.
A report by a commission of
representatives from South Africa,
Botswana and Zimbabwe last week
cited "serious concerns" about the
voting but did not call for a
re-run.
South Africa's intervention follows
fruitless efforts by mediators
over the
weekend to bring Lesotho's government and opponents together in
talks.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::