What you said about whether Eswatini and Lesotho should be part of SA

TimesLIVE readers have weighed in on ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba's suggestion that Eswatini and Lesotho be incorporated into SA.

The two landlocked countries have strong economic and social ties with SA, and Mashaba this week questioned “how, in particular, Lesotho and Swaziland, are not part of SA?”

“It is practically and economically impossible for these countries to survive on their own. The elephant in the room: Will the leaders of these two countries accept a proposal to incorporate?” he said.

His comments were slammed by the newly formed pan-African Kingdoms Council, which called it “ignorant and arrogant”.

The council's Dingizwe Mkhatshwa claimed SA continues to "occupy" Emaswati, Lesotho and Botswana territories, “violating the UN charter without punitive action”.

“To the contrary, it is de jure the SA administration that has to disintegrate to enable de facto historic indigenous sovereign states to be restored,” he said.

Former EFF MP and actor Fana Mokoena also slammed the suggestion, calling instead for greater economic participation and sharing of resources.

“Lesotho fought and won its battles against colonialists differently from how we did it. Instead of arrogantly proposing they be incorporated, because we think we are better, why don’t we rather propose greater economic participation and sharing of resources between us?”

TimesLIVE ran a poll asking readers if they thought Eswatini and Lesotho should be part of SA.

At the time of publishing, 52% of readers said they should.

Simpson Maanda said citizens of those nations “have been surviving”.

“There is nothing that will benefit SA if we were to adopt them,” he said.

“If their people want it and our people want it, why not? Just don't pull a Putin and send in our army to force them to be part of us,” added Jacques Coetzer.

TimesLIVE

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