POLL | Should we give Lesotho KZN?

Lesotho MP Tsepo Lipholo's motion to reclaim parts of South Africa has been met with debate and humour.

SowetanLIVE reported that Lipholo, of the Basotho Covenant Movement, got the 120-seat national assembly in Lesotho to debate his motion this week.

Lipholo, who is a sole MP for his party in the assembly, wants his country to reclaim land he said was seized by colonial white South Africa, including the whole of Free State, parts of the Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

“It's time for what is ours to be returned to us. History has a record of what was taken from our people and that people were killed in the process. It is time to correct that,” the BBC quoted Lipholo as telling parliament.

He also argued the expanded land would allow the free movement of Basotho people into South Africa.

The motion received the backing of two MPs including Nkaku Kabi, the leader of the country’s former governing party, All Basotho Convention (ABC).

While some backed his claims and said SA broke historic treaties by invading land that should belong to Lesotho, others said it was SA land and could not be claimed. A few found a funny side to the debate and jokingly offered KwaZulu-Natal to the country.

Lipholo's motion comes several months after ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba questioned “how, in particular, Lesotho and Swaziland (Eswatini), 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 them “ignorant and arrogant”.

The council's Dingizwe Mkhatshwa told TimesLIVE 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 rubbished the suggestion and called for greater economic participation and sharing of resources instead.

TimesLIVE

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