Lesotho: more coups than Covid
But events taking place in Lesotho can have more than an indirect influence on life in SA
Less than a week after sending the Lesotho Defence Force onto the streets of Maseru "to restore order", Tom Thabane, the mountain kingdom’s prime minister, is updating his CV.Following intervention from SA negotiators, including former minister Jeff Radebe, Thabane was convinced to step down as prime minister.Using the army was just one of Thabane’s ploys to hold on to power. While Lesotho has, at the time of writing, not a single confirmed case of Covid-19, he had also used the pandemic as a reason to suspend parliament — a move the country’s high court overturned for being "irrational".Radebe said "the timeline is immediate" for Thabane to step down.Already he must surely be feeling the cold as icy winds blow away the protections of office such as the immunity from prosecution claimed by his lawyers for his suspected involvement in the murder of his previous wife, Lipolelo, assassinated by gunmen as she sat in her car in June 2017.His current wife, Maesaiah — who he married two mo...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.