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Economic Aspects of Lesotho's Relations with South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

James H. Cobbe
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Extract

Lesotho has long had the distinction of being one of the more anomalous states not only in Southern Africa, but in the world. It is entirely surrounded by another country, the Republic of South Africa. It is ethnically and linguistically very homogeneous. It is a monarchy. Physically, the lowest point in Lesotho is higher, in vertical distance above sea level, that that in any other country. Its economy is marked by some extraordinary paradoxes, such as agriculture being the main economic activity of the bulk of the labour force albeit the origin of a small fraction of total income, imports enomously exceeding exports and being larger than domestic output, and fewer citizens working for cash inside the country than outside.

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Articles
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , March 1988 , pp. 71 - 89
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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References

Page 71 note 1 Bardill, John E. and Cobbe, James H., Lesotho: dilemmas of dependence in Southern Africa (Boulder, 1985).Google Scholar

Page 72 note 1 See Ibid. Also Cobbe, James, ‘The Changing Nature of Dependence: economic conditions in Lesotho’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge), 21, 2, 06 1983, pp. 293–310,Google Scholar and ‘Consequences for Lesotho of Changing South African Labour Demand’, in African Affairs (London), 85, 338, 01 1986, pp. 23–48.Google Scholar

Page 72 note 2 World Bank, Financing Adjustment with Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1986–90 (Washington, D.C., 1986).Google Scholar There are obvious problems in measuring the ‘labour force in agriculture’ in an economy such as Lesotho's, but the 60 per cent figure for 1980 is probably closer to what most people would understand by this concept than the 86 per cent given for 1980 in the World Development Report (Washington, D.C., 1986).Google Scholar

Page 73 note 1 See, for example, Cobbe, James, ‘Integration Among Unequals: the Southern African Customs Union and Development’, in World Development (Oxford), 8, 4, 04 1980, pp. 329–36.Google Scholar

Page 74 note 1 Central Bank of Lesotho, Quarterly Review (Maseru), 5, 4, 12 1986, p. 55, gives the increases in retail-price indices since the beginning of the year as 19.9 per cent for all urban households, 19.7 per cent for Maseru, and 23.1 per cent for low-income households. In 1987, inflation was around 16 per cent.Google Scholar

Page 74 note 2 The official estimate is +0.1 per cent for G.D.P. per capita, –0.1 per cent for G.N.P. per capita, but both figures are considerably smaller than the margin of error in the data.

Page 74 note 3 Central Bank of Lesotho, Annual Report for 1985 (Maseru, 1986). This is also the source of other data in this section not otherwise referenced.

Page 75 note 1 Ibid. 1986 (Maseru, 1987), and The Economist Intelligence Unit, Country Report. Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland (London, 1987), No. 2, p. 51.Google Scholar

Page 75 note 2 Quarterly Review, 6, 2, 06 1987, p. 54.Google Scholar

Page 75 note 3 Standard Chartered Review (London), 08 1986, p. 14.Google Scholar

Page 76 note 1 Cohen, Neal P., Econews (Mbabane), 3, 6, 08 1986.Google Scholar

Page 76 note 2 Quarterly Review, December 1986, p. 60.

Page 76 note 3 Cobbe, ‘Consequences for Lesotho’.

Page 76 note 4 According to the Central Bank of Lesotho, op. cit., in the last quarter of 1985, the deferred pay fund averaged over M66 million, compared to G.D.P. in 1985 of M581.3 million.

Page 78 note 1 Personal communication, 31 October 1986.

Page 78 note 2 E.g. The Star (Johannesburg), and The Guardian (London), 21 01 1986.Google Scholar

Page 78 note 3 Centre de Estudos Africanos, ‘Current South African Pressure on Lesotho’, in Southern African Dossier (Maputo), 07 1986.Google Scholar

Page 79 note 1 E.g. Ibid.

Page 79 note 2 There have been reports, however, of tension between the King and his supporters and General Lekhanya, over some matters involving relations with South Africa – e.g. the deportation in September 1986 of Father Michael Worsnip, the South African Secretary-General of the Lesotho Council of Churches, following press reports based on interviews with him that a ‘killer squad’ was hunting down A.N.C. members in Lesotho with the co-operation of the police. Africa Research Bulletin: political, social, and cultural (Exeter), 23, 9, 15 10 1986, p. 8230. Anecdotal reports from observers in Maseru also suggest that the five-man Military Council itself is split on some issues concerning relations with South Africa.Google Scholar

Page 79 note 3 Africa Research Bulletin: economic, financial, and technical (Exeter), 23, I, 28 02 1986, p. 8073.Google Scholar

Page 80 note 1 Ibid. 23, 10, 30 November 1986, p. 8426.

Page 80 note 2 Quarterly Review, June 1987, p. 65.

Page 81 note 1 Lesotho Today (Maseru), 1, 20, 27 08 1986, p. 2.Google Scholar

Page 81 note 2 However, the Basotho have not recently been uniformly supportive of the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa. Reportedly they were encouraged by a hostel manager at the President Steyn Mine in December 1986 to attack N.U.M. shop stewards, leading to ‘faction fighting’ in which 29 miners died. Southscan (London), 20, 18 02 1987, p. 1. Nor were Basotho consistently supportive of the 1987 strike by black miners.Google Scholar

Page 81 note 3 ‘Mozambican Miners' Reprieve’, in South African Labour Bulletin (Braamfontein), 12, 2, 01–02 1987, pp. 29–32.Google Scholar

Page 82 note 1 Lesotho Today, 2, 4, 6 06 1987, pp. 3–4.Google Scholar

Page 82 note 2 E.g. The Economist (London), 18 10 1986, p. 44.Google Scholar

Page 82 note 3 Lekhanya at S.A.D.C.C. summit in Luanda, The New York Times, 24 August 1986, p. 8.

Page 82 note 4 Thaabe Letsie speaking to SirHowe, Geoffrey, Lesotho Today, I, 16, 30 07 1986, p. 1.Google Scholar

Page 82 note 5 It is known that Swaziland has been used in the past, perhaps unwittingly, to evade the arms embargo: air freight addressed to that country simply stopped at Jan Smuts Airport in Johannesburg, until one shipment was forwarded by mistake, when the ruse was discovered.

Page 83 note 1 The Economist Intelligence Unit, op. cit. p. 49.

Page 83 note 2 See Booth, Alan, ‘South African Sanctions-Breaking in Southern Africa: the case of Swaziland’, African Studies Association Meeting, Denver, 11 1987.Google Scholar

Page 83 note 3 E.g. ‘The Lesotho Link Helps SA Clothing Reach the World’, in the Weekly Mail (Johannesburg), 6–12 11 1987,Google Scholar reporting that at least six export-oriented South African companies had moved to Lesotho since the 1986 coup. For a more detailed discussion, see Cobbe, James, ‘Sanctions Against South Africa: Lesotho's rôle’, African Studies Association, Denver, 11 1987.Google Scholar

Page 84 note 1 Ibid. 1, 26, 8 10 1986, p. 1.

Page 84 note 2 The new régime seems more willing to talk openly with representatives of Bantustan governments than was Jonathan – for example, with the Transkei authorities, ostensibly about curbing the activities of the Lesotho Liberation Army, in March/April 1986.

Page 84 note 3 Lesotho Today, 1, 20, 27 08 1986, p. 1.Google Scholar

Page 85 note 1 Data from various issues of Standard Bank Review (Johannesburg) and Volkskas, Economic Spotlight (Johannesburg), both monthly.

Page 85 note 2 Standard Bank Review, October 1986, and Economic Spotlight, May 1987.

Page 87 note 1 Lesotho Today, 1, 20, 27 August 1986, p. 2.Google Scholar

Page 87 note 2 For a more optimistic view of agricultural prospects, see Plath, Joel C., Holland, David W., and Carvalho, Joe W., ‘Labour Migration in Southern Africa and Agricultural Development: some lessons from Lesotho’, in Journal of Developing Areas (Macomb, Ill.), 21, 2, 01 1987, pp. 159–75.Google Scholar

Page 88 note 1 ‘Killings and Kidnappings’, in New African (London), 05 1987, p. 38.Google Scholar

Page 88 note 2 Lesotho Today, 1, 26, 8 10 1986, p. 1. During 1987, perhaps 15 to 25 refugees a month were being flown out to the north, after being held under very loose conditions in Maseru until flights were available.Google Scholar