Fresh off celebrating 60 years of independence from British colonial rule, Lesotho is calling on neighboring South Africa (SA) to address historical injustices through land restitution and colonial reparations.
Speaking following Lesotho’s Diamond Jubilee milestone, Foreign Affairs Minister Limpho Justice Tau asserted that SA holds a moral obligation to compensate the mountain kingdom for historic land dispossession and the exploitation of Basotho labor.
Tau highlighted that 19th-century colonial expansion severed Lesotho from more than three times its original territorial size, including vast fertile tracts of the modern-day Free State province, severely constraining the nation’s agricultural self-sufficiency. Citing the African Union’s recent adoption of the African Governance Architecture Declaration on colonial reparations, Lesotho’s diplomatic leadership is pressing SA for bilateral negotiations to address the lasting socio-economic legacy of apartheid-era military incursions, low-wage migrant mining exploitation, and historical boundary definitions.
Beyond territorial claims, Lesotho is leveraging its vast natural water resources as a strategic regional asset. With annual water transfers already generating nearly R5 billion ($286 million) in revenue, the kingdom is positioning itself as a clean energy and water security hub for Southern Africa.
The nation is currently finalising the Lesotho-Botswana Water Transfer Project, which will construct a 700-kilometer pipeline through SA to supply Gabarone, alongside expanding domestic hydropower capacity to achieve 100% nationwide electricity access by 2030.
–ChannelAfrica–
