Lesotho–South Africa relations refers to the current and historical bilateral relations of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

. Lesotho, which is surrounded by South Africa, depends on South Africa for most of its economic affairs, and its foreign policy is often aligned with that of Pretoria. Both are member states of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

Southern African Customs Union The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) is a customs union among five countries of Southern Africa: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa. Its headquarters are in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. It was established in 1910. H ...

and

Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Goals The SADC's goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and se ...

. Lesotho, along with

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

, have been described as satellite states of South Africa.

History

The area known as Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa. Lesotho (then

Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho, bordered with the Cape Colony, Natal Colony and Orange River Colony until 1910 and completely surrounded by South Africa from 1910. Though the Basot ...

, a

British protectorate British protectorates were protectorates under the jurisdiction of the British government. Many territories which became British protectorates already had local rulers with whom the Crown negotiated through treaty, acknowledging their status wh ...

) was annexed to the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

in 1871, but became separate again (as a

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by Kingdom of England, England, and then Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English overseas possessions, English and later British Empire. There was usua ...

) in 1884. When the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

was formed in 1910, there were moves by the UK to include Lesotho. However, in October 1966, the Kingdom gained full independence. Despite formal independence, the white-controlled government in South Africa played a major role in its neighbour's economic and political affairs, including supporting the government of Lesotho Prime Minister Chief

Leabua Jonathan Joseph Leabua Jonathan (30 October 1914 – 5 April 1987) was the first prime minister of Lesotho. He succeeded Chief Sekhonyana Nehemia Maseribane following a by-election and held that post from 1965 to 1986. Early life and career Born in L ...

. In 1986, South Africa supported the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

in Lesotho which brought Justin Lekhanya to power. In turn, Lekhanya's government expelled

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

members as well as technicians from

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

, which led to significantly better relations between the two countries.

Post-apartheid relations

South Africa held its first democratic elections in 1994. In September 1998, South Africa led a military intervention in Lesotho in the name of SADC, after post-election rioting and rumours of a possible coup. SADC troops withdrew from Lesotho in May of the following year. Since then, South Africa's influence in Lesotho has grown. It is involved with the

Lesotho Highlands Water Project The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is an ongoing water supply project with a hydropower component, developed in partnership between the governments of Lesotho and South Africa. It comprises a system of several large dams and tunnels t ...

, an ongoing water supply and hydro-power project. In August 2010, South African President

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan names Nxamalala and Msholozi. Zuma was a for ...

led a group of investors and politicians to Lesotho, where they discussed bilateral cooperation as well as regional political developments. While in Lesotho in 2010, Zuma visited the

Katse Dam The Katse Dam, a concrete arch dam on the Malibamat'so River in Lesotho, is Africa's second largest double-curvature arch dam after the Tekezé Dam in Ethiopia. Located just below the confluence of the Bokong River, which forms the western arm ...

and addressed a joint session of the

Parliament of Lesotho The Parliament of Lesotho () is the national legislature of Lesotho and consists of two chambers: the Senate (upper chamber) and the National Assembly (lower chamber). See also * Politics of Lesotho *List of legislatures by country External ...

Annexation proposals

With decolonisation, Bechuanaland and Basutoland became independent in 1966 as the Republic of Botswana and the Kingdom of Lesotho, respectively. They were followed in 1968 by Swaziland, now known as Eswatini. South Africa hoped to get control of these three states, but the British government had made commitments to respect the interests of the black African inhabitants which would not be kept by handing them over to Apartheid South Africa. In 2010, trade unionist Vuyani Tyhali started a petition in support of annexation, saying: "We have 30,000 signatures. Lesotho is not just landlocked – it is South Africa-locked. We were a labour reserve for apartheid South Africa. There is no reason for us to exist any longer as a nation with its own currency and army". Ntate Manyanye, a charity director, cited the AIDS epidemic as a reason why Lesotho could no longer survive as an independent country: "Lesotho is fighting for survival. We have a population of about 1.9 million but there may be as many as 400,000 AIDS orphans among us. Life expectancy has fallen to 34. We are desperate". In 2023, Lesotho's parliament debated demanding the territory of Free State and other Basotho lands from South Africa. This was after, in 2022, Tshepo Lipholo, a member of the Basotho Convention Movement, was elected to Parliament, the only member of the party to be elected. Their platform is based on the idea that the land of the

Basotho The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The ancestors of the Sotho people are believed to h ...

, the main ethnic group in Lesotho, needs to be returned to the nation, given that it was taken in the 19th century by the

Afrikaners Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch people, Dutch Settler colonialism, settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in Free Burghers in the Dutch Cape Colony, 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. '' ...

. Previous groups had attempted to contact the Queen requesting to make Lesotho a tenth province of South Africa. Many Basotho live in South Africa, and many also depend on South Africa for jobs. However, South African officials said that they would not support the annexation as it was not supported by a majority.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lesotho - South Africa Relations

Bilateral relations of South Africa Lesotho and the Commonwealth of Nations South Africa and the Commonwealth of Nations