Talks over mines stake
MASERU — Cabinet is discussing the possibilities of acquiring majority stakes in mining companies.
Prime Minister Thomas Thabane yesterday told the Lesotho Times that the cabinet started the discussion after “scores of people approached the government with suggestions that the state should have majority shares in the mines”.
Thabane however said it is still early for the government to come up with any decision on the issue.
“We are still discussing how to approach this difficult issue,” Thabane said.
“It has to be clear that it is not our own initiative to go for controlling shares in the mines but the people approached us with the issue and we are seriously talking about the proper approach to it, if it will be possible at all,” he said.
“This is a sensitive issue that needs to be handled with care.”
Thabane however dismissed as false media reports that the government is planning to make wholesale changes to the ownership structure of foreign businesses in Lesotho.
Last week, Business Day, a South African daily business paper, said Lesotho was considering an indigenisation programme akin to the one in Zimbabwe.
The paper said the policy could compel foreign investors to sell 51 percent of their businesses to Basotho.
The report triggered panic among foreign-owned businesses.
Thabane said the report was “false and baseless”.
Acting government secretary, Motlatsi Ramafole, said cabinet has assigned Mining Minister, Tlali Khasu, to visit Botswana to study how it implemented its shareholding policy in mines.
“I can confirm that the issue is under discussion in the cabinet and that the Honourable Minister of Mining has been assigned to go to Botswana on a study tour,” Ramafole said.
“The moment cabinet makes any final decision on the issue it will be properly conveyed to you because it will then be for public consumption,” he said.
Ramafole sits in cabinet meetings as the secretary.
Khasu declined to comment saying the issue is “not yet ripe for consumption by the public”.
The Lesotho government already has a 30 percent stake in Letšeng Mine which is owned by the London-listed Gem Diamonds.
Letšeng Mine, which has been in commercial operation since 2004, has a total processing capacity of over five million tonnes per year and recovery of approximately 100 000 carats per year, which makes Letšeng Mine the seventh largest kimberlite mine in the world.
90 percent of diamonds recovered are gem quality, with a significant proportion graded as D colour. Over 70 percent of revenue is from diamonds in excess of 10.8 carats. The mine has produced several diamonds over 400 carats and numerous stones over 100 carats.
Letšeng Diamonds has recovered three of the world’s top twenty rough diamonds. These include the 603 carat Lesotho Promise in August 2006, the 493 carat Letšeng Legacy in September 2007 and the 478 carat Leseli la Letšeng in September 2008.
The 601 carat Lesotho Brown found in 1967 came from Letšeng Mine.
The government also holds 34 percent of Kao Mine whose majority shareholder is Namakwa Diamonds, another London-listed firm.
The Liqhobong Mine is operated by Liqhobong Mining Development Company (LMDC), which is 75 percent owned by a South African company Firestone and 25 percent owned by the government of Lesotho. The Liqhobong Mine is comprised of the Main Pipe and the Satellite Pipe, which cover 8.5 hectares and 0.8 hectares, respectively.
LMDC has been granted a mining lease by the government covering an area of 390 hectares in respect of both pipes which expires in August 2017, but is then renewable for a further 10 years.
Comment by halakasha on 2 August 2012:
Sharing formula should comprise the state, businesses, co-operitives, societies and individuals have stake. This will provide a check in case a current/future government becomes corrupt and misappropriate dividends due to the government, poor and ordinary Mosotho still be protected to receive proceeds from the diamonds.
Comment by Ambassador on 2 August 2012:
Although the government is trying to gain majority shares in the Lesotho Mines, I am pleading to bo ntate Thabane to please look further in the job qualification and salaries of indivituals in companies such asLets’eng. Some of the seniour management like the CEO and MD have to be fired. The do not perform accordingly, they earn more than enough and all they are is a buch of racists. Please look into this matter.
Comment by semenekane on 2 August 2012:
51% e tle ka lehlakoreng la ‘muso. Diamonds are very venerable and scare minerals. Ha li lengoe joalo ka Poone kapa Mabele
Tikolloho ea senyeha le makhulo a liphoofolo tsa rona a ameha kahona re lokeloa ho imona menoana ka Litaemane tsa Lesotho
Mahaletere o re senyelitse ho lekane
Comment by Ambassador on 2 August 2012:
Another matter is that of foreighners holding top posts in companies like Letseng diamonds, we know that the position of General mamager was to be a mosotho position all the time as it was agreed on that we should also have a mosotho in the top post for judgement making, empa ke ena mosotho aneng ale ho eona ola tebeloa ka sehloho ea inkeloa ke lekhooa oe bitsoang John Houghton, ha li sekasekoe taba tsena tsa li mmaene rea kopa
Comment by Maipato on 2 August 2012:
LEHA KESA O BATLE LEKHOAKHOA MONA O ETSA HANTLE. HOO TSEHETSA TABA ENA LUMELLANG PUBLIC HORE LE EONA EBE LE KAROLO LE MUSO OBE LE KAROLO. JOALE KA LI PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS. HALE ETSA JOALO LE TLABE LE NTLAFATSA SECHABA KAHOFELA.ELE HORE LIRAFSHOANG TSENA EBE TSA BASOTHO BOHLE. SHARES SHOULD BE TRADED FOR LOCALS TO BUY AT ANY AMOUNT INDIVIDUALS ARE WILLING TO INVEST.
LEKHOAKHOA MONA O ETSA HANTLE.
Comment by Lefefooane on 2 August 2012:
This move is long overdue. However, I am of the view that the government should not “own” the stake in the mines. Rather, we in the ABC had a policy in which the stake be transferred to all Basotho people to own up equities in the mining sector. The simplest way the ABC wanted was to have people buy shares from the government which would by then have bought shares from the mines. In that way the government would just be a “vehicle” used to transfer wealth from the minorities to the majority Basotho people. We differ with LCD on this matter. LCD wants the government to own mines and use the proceeds to do infrastructure development. Ours is that the wealth should be transferred to the ordinary Basotho people by way of shares. DC on the other hand believes that the mines should be wholly owned by foreigners with foreigners just paying corporate tax.
Comment by Lefefooane on 2 August 2012:
Basotho baheso, let us not look at just jobs in the mines. The jobs benefit very few people. In any case I do not think the mines are the biggest employer. Rather we should be pushing to get equities in the mining sector. Government should buy the stake on our behalf the we the ordinary folk purchase the shares from the government. In that way even a sttreet vendor will have access to the mining wealth. The scheme should be operated the same way the south african government did with firms like MTN, Multichoice, Nedbank (Eyethu scheme), etc. That is to say, from as little as R100 one should buy a “stake” from Letseng/Mothae/Liqhobong/Lemphane/Lithotobolong/Kao. This was the ABC approach to the matter. La chaba letsatsi!!!
Comment by Taemane on 2 August 2012:
Like Ambassador says there is quite a lot to be sorted out in the mines.
1. Dubious employment processes favouring foreigners/whites
2. Salary gaps between whites and Basotho. A Mosotho Fokothi graduate does not earn even half of what is earned by a foreigner with no tertiary education but doing the same job.
3. Dubious procurement processes favouring foreign contractors and consultants
4. Violation of laws where some foreigners are without work permits and residence permits.
5. Issuing of work permits to foreigners with simple skills like welding which is abundant in the country. Labour Ministry should account for this one
etc.
Comment by concerned citizen on 2 August 2012:
gornment should own majority shares not individuals, by selling shares we will be going back to square 1 where the rich become more richer. For example a tender for construction of cabinet requires compannies to have worked on projects of an estimated value of more than 600 Million in the past 3 years. Thats vey rediculous. Meaning we only changed the gorvenment but the people who gonna benefit more are the ones who were associated with the previous regime. No economical changes.
Comment by Tsemeli on 2 August 2012:
Ke nahana hore taba ena e tlameha ho shejoa kamokho serious hobane currently the mines are still operating under the eye of the so called government representative eo ereng hau e sheba ebe u bona motho feela tjena a senang thuso.ke ntho feela tjena eo motho u bonang hore e beuoe mono ele setsosa se senang thuso.maburu ana a limaene a sebetsa mono asena li work permits and ba sebetsa lipost tseo basotho ba li quailifaelang tse kang tsali electricians,plumbing le tse ling mono eena motho eno a ntse a le teng.Feela che aka etsang motho oa batho ha isita a sena le koloi e e pala ele ntho e kopang li lift ha a ea mosebetsing.i also think he is paid the lowest salary on the mine.Thus i think if this issue is taken seriously the mines will be managed better and all those funny things going on in the mines will stop.
Comment by selotho on 2 August 2012:
ueso lefefooane ke utloa o bua taba tse monate ruri. kea u utloa-utloa feela ho na le moo ke ferekanang tjena, nthuse.
u re lona ma ABC le fapana le LCD ka hore eona e batla ‘muso o be le liabo tse ngata merafong, ha ABC eona e re ‘muso o nke karolo e ngata ea merafo ebe sechaba se reka liabo ho ‘muso?
u tsoela pele u re mabaka a LCD hore ‘muso e be mong’a merafo (owner) ke hoba ba re ba tle ba sebelise lilopotsia tse tsoang moo ho aha liemahale (infrastructure).
kea le utloa lehlakore la lona ba ABC. ke bile ke utloa lehlakore la LCD, le teng ha eba ehlile ke e utloa hantle tlhaloso ea hao.
potso ea ka ke ena:
1. ha o hlahloba, ke moralo o feng pakeng tsa oa ABC le oa LCD o tlang ho akofisa moruo oa naha?
naa hase bohlale ho matahanya maano aa a mabeli (balance the two approaches) ho fihlela tharollo e batlang e ba ea moshoelella? kapa katamelo e joalo e ke ke ea atleha?
Comment by t ntsohi on 2 August 2012:
This is the really the good beggining, There is no way the country like Lesotho can grow economically if the natural resources are not used or utilised efficiently. If people can investigate what made Botswana to become rich are the natural resources through mining and the livestock.Mona o e tsoere Lekhoakhoa pele ea pele.
Also look at the income per-capita is very low while the goods at market are raising at the arithmatic rate. This is why the qualified staff chose to go and work abroad in green pastures, Lesotho has to become one of them.
Comment by Tsemeli on 2 August 2012:
monna heso Taemane u hole nkabe keu tsoaraka letsoho.All the points you listed are the main points of concern that the coalition government should have on their table for discussion.But i still dont understand why the last government had put poor person(the government representative)there as a puppet because i have had on the radio when people were asking Halti as to what assurance he gives that the diamonds of this country are not just being taken.His response was that he has got people who take care of that(reffering to the government representative).Then what suprises many people is that most dont even know who this puppet.We should have who are well paid there who will not allow any nonsense but the only GR that i know is more like a casual worker.I am afraid it will be history after some years that we had mines here in lesotho that did not benefit Basotho.
Comment by MOKOKO on 2 August 2012:
I THINK THE FIRST THING TO START WITH IS TO CARRY OUT A THOROUGH RESEARCH ABOUT THE MINERALS AND ANY OTHER RESOURCES THAT CAN HELP US IN THIS COUNTRY, KE NTSE KE SA LUMELE HORE LITHABA TSE NGATA HAKANA HA LINA LETHO LE KA RE TSOELANG MOLEMO…………..MA GRADUATE A MANG ATA A ENTSENG RESEACH BUT HA BA ETSE NEX
Comment by Oa maliba on 2 August 2012:
Lefefoane…BNP e batla entse e buoa puo e ts’oanang le ABC, hobane ka mohoong oa Bona e hlalositse hore thuo le merafo eohle ea matlotlo a naha ena e tlameha ho ba ka kopanelo le bana ba Basotho ka mokhoa oa karoloana e kholo e tlang ho ba ea naha ea Lesotho, joale ebe tse ling lia hlahlama
Comment by Lefefooane on 2 August 2012:
@concerned citizen, I think you do not understand the concept of equity and shares thoroughly to such an extent you think of share as very very expensive things. I advice you to buy the star newspaper and its business page has prices of shares of companies on a stock exchange. Shares are cheap my brother. Almost everyone can buy shares, however what will diver will be the number of shares an individual will buy. That will depend on how much that individual has. In south africa street vendors were able to buy MTN/NEDBANK/Maltichoice shares. People used to go to the post office and subscribe for whatever amount they had. However such shares were never to be traded back until after some period. A warning though is that trading of shares needs a stock broker. it is not as difficult. In this way, the wealth will be in the hands of the citizens unlike having our wealth “in trust” of few corrupt politicians.
Comment by Lefefooane on 2 August 2012:
@selotho, my take is that we have no business having a rich country when the popullace is poor. South Africa is such an example. When you get some areas of South Africa you would think you are in Europe but when you get to the townships like Kwamashu, Mtantsane, Nyanga, etc you would know you are now in another South Africa. You would know that RSA is part of the G20 1nd BRICS but the reality on the ground in the townships is different. This is purely because the South African wealthis either in government or in the hands of the minority. Guess what, a richest man in the township only guages his wealth by the number of taxis and tarvens and chiza Nyamas. Unaware that he can get a huge stake in the Anglo American by a mere walk to the JSE or better still he can purchase the satrix share in which case he will have access to the top 40 performers on the JSE. The nicest thing about shares and equity is that in as much as Matekane will have more stake but a poor street vendor like Tsolo Lebitsa will also have his equivalent share.
Comment by selotho on 2 August 2012:
hhmmm…kea utloa ueso lefefooane. ha re fete mona hee. tlhakiso ea hao e mpha maikutlo a reng setsi sa theko ea liabo (stock exchange) se tlameha ho ba teng lesotho mona pele, kapa joang? ha eba ho joalo, naa ke setsi se tla sebetsa ka nako eohle, kapa tlasa boemo bo renang lesotho moo, se tla fetoha mathethebale (white elephant), hoba ka chebo ea ka, liabo tse tlang ho fumaneha haholo ke tsa merafo?
ke sa resele taba ea hao e ntlhabollang, ha re ke re shebe taba ea LCD. ha eba ‘muso o nka seabo se ka holimo tsamaisong ea merefo, joale o aha liemahale ka litseane tsa merafo, leano le joalo le ke ke la theola tlhokahalo ea mesebetsi nako e teletsana?
mohlala oo ke o nahang ke oa ha eba ho raloa libaka tsa litoropo le metse e li potileng bocha, haholo metse e ntseng e sena litsela tsa lets’oana le kajeno, feela e le metse ea khale. ha o sheba ka leihlo la moea feela, metse ea lithabaneng kaofela ha eona (ha keeiso, ha matala, lithoteng, ha abia, ha seoli jj) ho ka nka nako e kae ho e ntlafatsa. le hona ka ntlafatso ke bolela ntlafatso e seng masaoana.
mohlala:
1. ho cheka fats’e ho kenyoa lipeipi tsa metsi le likhoere-khoere tsa boemo bo phahameng
2. ho phunya litsela tsa lets’oana tse kenellang ka hare ho metse e joalo
3. ho aha litsi tsa mabenkele(mall) libakeng tse joalo. mohlala, setsi sa mabenkele moo metse e ka boroa ho teropo ea maseru e ka rekang teng. baji ba khaoloe maoto ka ho ea teropong maseru ho ea reka(shopping).
4. ho aha libaka tsa boithapollo metseng joalo ka mabala a lipapali joalo ka tennis
Comment by Oa Likoetseng on 2 August 2012:
Ntho ea Pele ke ho fumana hore naa Li ‘Maene tseno tsee ka mono ke tsa bo mang? Naa Li Sebetsa ka ts’oanelo ka hara Naha? Haeba feela ke tsa litsotsi!! Litsotsi litlo fana ka chelete ea tjotjo, ho keke hoa hlola ho etsoa nix..otla mpotsa etlaba research ka mora research..Chelete ke ntho ea ha Satane ene e bolae mora Motho.
Comment by Lefefooane on 3 August 2012:
@Selotho, ke utloa taba tsa hau tse ntle. Tabeng ea ho reka liabo, we do not necessarily need a stock exchange. If you can remember, people used to buy Eyethu(Nedbank) Shares, Multichoice shares, MTN shares, etc etc from the post office. What was required was your green bar coded ID and the amount of money that was all. Similarly, the government of Lesotho can facilitate such a move. It is as easy as that. In this way the wealth will be direclty transferred to the Basotho people. In the case of South Africa, cooperatives were given discounted price when they purchased such shares.
On the issue of government taking ownership in order to build infrastructure projects as a way of creating employment, I do not totally disagree. But the jobe created by infrastructure development like road construction etc are normally short lived. That person would be employed during the construction of the road for maybe 3 years then after that he will be unemployed. Whereas when he owns the shares in the mine, he will continue to benefit for the entire lifetime of the mine. Infrastructure development jobs are only short lived. They are normally not real jobs.
Comment by Lefefooane on 3 August 2012:
@Oa Likoetseng, yes we still need the mining audit and I guess minister of mines cde Khasu will do that. We need to know who owns which mine and how they got the license/mining lease and for how long is the lease duration. We need to know who owns the following diamond mines:
Letsing
Kao
Mothae
Lemphane
Liqhobong
Lithotobolong
Kolo
That will be the most important thing going forward.
Comment by Chocolate on 3 August 2012:
interesting, interests of the nation and our economy should be protected. i guess all these companies (MMB, Vodacom, FNB, and so on) are going to be scrutinized. others are just here to exploit ourt nation, centralising most of the operations. it’s high time that we also look at complianceand accounting profession. independent bodies should be formed so that we can move our beautiful country forward. Accounting profession should be closely monitored to ensure that quality reports are produced and tax frauds are identified
Comment by revolution2012lesotho on 3 August 2012:
Ambassador ba tebeloe ke mang?? ha ba hiriloe ke meng? mosebetsi ke oa mang???
Comment by LIMPHO on 3 August 2012:
This issue of Mines need an insight investigations and expertise. The issuing of Mining Leases need to be done with curiosity. One of the essentials of acquiring a Mining Lease is to have letter of financing. In those letters the companies will be declaring to have certain amount of money which is not tangible at the time.I would suggest that the department be given a bank statement showing deposits of such funds before issuing a Mining Lease. Secondly, if the investors are foreigners the funds must be in the banks of Lesotho.
Comment by LIMPHO on 3 August 2012:
The issue of Mines in Lesotho is something very broad. Let us not only focus on Diamonds Mines. What about Sandstone in Lekokoaneng? The requirements of Environmental Impact Assessment, there is an obligation by some companies to contribute towards Social Responsibility. Who is making a follow up on such obligations? What is Lekokoaneng community benefiting from such mines? Scrunity in Environment Office is highly essential. In RSA one cannot get resources while the affected community is not benefiting anything. Time to open the closets and see all this beneficials.
Comment by selotho on 3 August 2012:
lefefooane ueso kea u leboha ka tlhakiso ea hao. kea utloa ebile kea utloisisa.
ha ‘ne re ee le mona hee. maikutlo a ka a re ‘muso o k’o inahanele le ho aha lifeme tse ‘maloa ka litseane tseo tsa merafo. khaho eeo ea lifeme e anele boholo ba litereke. li se be maseru le maputsoe feela.
e be lifeme tse tlang ho hlahisa lisebelisoa tse:
1. hlokoang haholo ke baji, empa li lieha ho finyella libakeng tse ling ka mor’a hore li etsoe lifemeng.
2. ho shejoe baji ka bopharanyana. ebe baji ba koano lesotho esita le tikoloho eohle ea SADC.
3. ebe lisebelisoa tse nang le boleng(quality) feela ka theko e tlasana ho tse ts’oanang hantle le tsona, empa tseo tse ling li entsoe ka ntle ho naha ea lesotho.
ke ‘nete boithuto ba mebaraka e joalo bo tlameha ho etsoa pele, ho hloahoe libaka tseo lihlahisoa tse tsoang lesotho li ka rekisoang teng. neng neng ha eba re sebetsa hantle, re nyolohele holimo ho afrika.
naa banna le basali ba heso re ke ke ra iphumana re bile re fihlile europe? leano la rona e le hore lihlahisoa li fihle bajing:
a) ka pele
b) ka nako
c) e le tsa boleng (quality products)
d) feela ka theko tse khotsofatsang haholo
lisebelisoa e ka ba tseo re li alimang ho tsoa machabeng kapa tsa hona lesotho mona. mohlala oa sesebelisoa sa lesotho ke ts’ootso ea lekhala la lesotho (skin care body lotion). ea re ke le khauteng koana ka utloa bo ‘m’e ba bang ba e khotsa, ba bile ba re ke ba tlele mohla ke eang. eka ha e fumanehe ha bonolo moo, kapa joang?
naa hoo hase mesebetsi ea nako e telele ueso lefefooane?
Comment by selotho on 3 August 2012:
limpho kea u tlatsa. leha tlhahiso ea mesebetsi e le taba ea mantlha, paballo ea tikoloho e fuoe leihlo le nchocho ka ho ts’oana. ho be le likhotlo tse fuoang lifeme tse sa ikobeleng melao.
ke hopola letsuka la li-chemical sebakeng sa sosolburg foreisetata afrika boroa. ke hopola ebile e sebetsoa tjena taba ea moo ka selemo se seng, feela ea ea moriting nakoana, ea boetse ea khutla. ke qetetse khajana leha ho le joalo. naa ho ntse ho ts’oana?
Comment by Lefefooane on 3 August 2012:
Bahaesong, we must diviate from the idea of having the government as the main driver of the economic activities. That idea never works. Government should collect tax(corporate, income etc) and leave business to the private sector. Now, with the tax collected government has the responsibility to build roads, schools, etc.
My idea is that we the natives should have the direct benefit from our natural resources. We really do would not benefit from factories that produce whatever product. The only beneficiaries will be the employees. For instance, we (Phillips) produce electric globes at Ha Tikoe for export to EU then do I Lefefooane benefit? The answer is no. Only Phillips employees and government benefits on my behalf. Wheras if I have shares in Phillips I would be directly benefiting and no government would be benefiting on my behalf so that that government will supposedly construct a tar road some where. I am saying, the government should be content with collecting taxes then leave the private sector alone. We should be able to buy shares in our mines. Ho tloha ka mofutsana futse ho ea ka moui rui boohle re na le kabelo lirafshooang tseno tsa rona.
Comment by selotho on 3 August 2012:
u’a tseba kea u ts’oara ntja’a ‘m’e lefefooane, hantle le hona, ke bile kea u tlatsa.
u re ‘muso o seke oa eba ka hloohong ho tsamaisa khoebo le khoebisano, empa o tlohele litaba tse joalo matsohong a sechaba. ‘muso oona o thuse ka ho batalatsa mabala ka ho etsa melao e lumellang khoebisano ho atleha, le ho lisa hore melao e joalo e ea lateloa.
‘muso hoa oona e be ho bokella makhetho a tlang ho thusa ho aha litsela, marokho, likolo, jj. kapa le hona joale ke ntse ke otla ka thoko ueso?
ak’o hlakise ena hantle ueso, kea u qotsa, “We really would not benefit from factories that produce whatever product”
Comment by Mahaltere on 3 August 2012:
Che ekare hotla sebetsoa ka ‘nete eohle
Comment by LEO-TY on 4 August 2012:
@Lefefooane
I do not agree with you here 100% .In 1993 when Ntsu Mokhehle took power , he was advised by both IMF and WORLD BANK to sell all parastatals as a result Lesotho Bank , Agric Bank ,Lesotho Flour Mills , Lesotho Building finance Co-operation etc were all sold .
1.where are the monies the government got from the sale of those parastatals ?.
2.What is the explanation of both international financial institutions that encouraged us to unbundle ?.
Today , we are sitting with a serious problem of unemployment because those parastatals used to absorb the new graduates train them for the job while at the same give them skills and exprience needed to be employed by the private sector .
Comment by Lefefooane on 5 August 2012:
@LEO-TY, It was not the world bank that “advised”, the Lesotho government to “sell all parastatals”. It was actually the then BCP government which wanted to “sell all parastatals” in a bid to undo all the “Leabua legacy”. The then BCP government only approached the IMF and not the world bank for advice as to how it could “carry out its plan”. The quickly they passed the privatization act of 1995 and appointed one Mothusi Mashulungu as its director to “sell all the Leabua legacy”. Among them the Lesotho Bank, Lesotho Airways, Agricultural Development Bank, Basotho Canners, Lesotho Flour Mills, Lesotho Building Finance, Lesotho Telecommunication Company, Minet Kingsway Insurance, etc etc etc etc. That was stupid to say the least. Which country on earth can sell all its commerce infrastructure in a bid to “undo the previous ruler’s legazy?”. The proceeds from yhe sale of such infrastructure was used to finance the Matsolo A iketsetse (Which code named Fato Fato and later on codenamed named Boikhohollo Bofumeng because the term “Matsolo a iketsetse” was also associated with Leabua regime. It was during the time when MP used to double act as finacial controllers. One of them Zoma Monyo of Mashai lost all the money claiming the robbers took his breifcase as he went into the Donga to releif himself. One of them was, the cheaque was apparently “eaten” by rats inside the bible of the then Motimposo MP Mamoshebi Kabi.
That was total ill advise and maladministration. What could have been done would have been to transfer the share holding of such coorporates to ordinary Basotho instead of our companies being given to Zimbabweans(LTC) South Africans (Lesotho Bank), Americans (Lesotho Flour Mills). That was wrong. Absolutely wrong. Rediculous. Those parastatals that never got a buyer were “crippled” by the then BCP government. Among the Basotho Enterprises and Develpment Cooporation(Bedco), LNDC and LNIG.
Comment by Alexander von Gerlach on 5 August 2012:
I read the comments on this topic with interest.
As a foreigner I am not qualified to prescribe to or even suggest what the Government and the people should or should not do to develop and to manage the natural resources of Lesotho.
Nonetheless, I am taking time to make some general comments on the subject under debate that will perhaps be considered useful and constructive.
1. Botswana, an African success story, has proven to be pragmatic in managing its natural resource base, mainly diamonds to date. I am sure the Government of Botswana would be delighted to share its experiences and expertise acquired over the years with the Government of Lesotho, if asked to do so.
It is also a potential investor in the diamond industry of Lesotho as it relates to and understands diamonds. Like Sir Harry Oppenheimer was, it may also be “tickled” by the prospects of mining some extraordinary beautiful, large diamonds that Lesotho has proven it can deliver.
2. I would think the notion that Government should see its role only as one of collecting taxes and let the private sector get on with, may be good advice to a highly developed country but not for an underdeveloped one. Private business is generally not motivated by what is in the national interest, but by optimising the return on investment for its shareholders. Hence the name: “private business or the private sector”.
There are many examples of countries where Governments assumed an initiating role to establish business enterprises in the national interest, the private sector had little appetite for.
The South African Government initiatives to establish Yskor, Sasol and Mossgas (gas to liquid petroleum products) are relevant, past good examples of that.
Finally, Government and the private sector should work closely together to mutual and short term as well as long term advantage. The Chinese are masters at that. Governments of developing countries can and should take the long term view, the private sector generally cannot afford to take.
Changes to existing mining and business laws, as the PM recommended, need to be well considered. Hasty ones may threaten the country’s fledgling mining industry and the desired expansion thereof.
There are other less controversial, immediate steps Government it is suggested could consider that could boost the mining sector of Lesotho. Some of these are outlined below:
3. Lesotho has in our considered opinion an abundance of mineral resources, including underground water in drier parts of the country.
Exploration in Lesotho is, because of its terrain, expensive, time consuming and tedious. I believe one may be surprised by the results if Government were to announce that it invites every man, woman and child, including herdboys, to bring any rock or stone that looks interesting to a Government office in Maseru, headed by a widely respected person, on say every Friday morning.
Officials at this office would, in the presence of the person bringing the sample:
3.1 Record the name and contact details of the person bringing the rock or soil sample.
3.2 Record the location of the point or area where the sample was taken.
3.3 Keep this information, plus the sample itself, on record and in safe custody.
After that one or two Government geologists and/or students of geology, to be seconded to this office on Friday mornings, could probably express an opinion if a sample submitted is worthless and of no potential value. Even in cases like these, the record and the sample would be kept to serve as evidence in the unlikely event that any staff member be tempted to misuse the information provided.
If a sample is considered to be potentially of interest, in principle, government geologists could, assisted by the person who brought the sample, as a first step, visit the site from where the sample was collected and prepare a preliminary report together with recommendations as to what should be done from thereon, if anything. A copy of these preliminary report is to handed to or mailed to the person who brought the sample to Maseru.
Assuming this initiative, and it may need to be revised and improved before it can be announced to the public, were to be communicated effectively, it may yield surprising results. But even if it were to give rise to the establishment of only one mine in Lesotho in the short – or long term, it would have been a worthwhile exercise, as its costs will be modest.
One can safely assume the people of Lesotho, especially those living in rural areas, have knowledge they have been weary of disclosing until now. The proposed initiative, it is hoped, provided its modus operandi is well communicated and understood, could remove these fears as the proposed initiative will be not be easy to abuse, and unlock a store of wealth to the benefit of Lesotho and its people.
4. Last but not least, Government may want to consider to do all in its power to encourage and to promote artisanal mining in Lesotho that potentially could provide sustainable livelihoods for thousands, in particular for retrenched Basotho mine workers that have returned to their homes and families.
There is lots more that can be done, but writing about it here, one would run the risk of overloading the circuit.
Comment by selotho on 6 August 2012:
Alexander von Gerlach your points are interesting. i too believe government involvement (especially in developing countries) is vital, to an extent, in initiating certain industries because of its capital strength.
i agree with lefefooane that ordinary people should be empowered through share holding. my opinion is, while on one hand people are being empowered, government on the other should inject capital only on industries of national interest and be at the forefront in administering such industries.
my concern is:
i want to see my country producing and exporting more than importing, or at least balance the two. however, with the existing state of affairs, the empowered ordinary shareholders would opt to consume outside lesotho due to the buying power, hence money flows out more than flows in or circulating within.
when we establish industries and mass produce quality products with lower prices, we would not only meet but drive demand so ordinary shareholders would buy within lesotho before they go outside.
Alexander von Gerlach i again appreciate your idea of approach in mineral exploration.
Comment by Lefefooane on 6 August 2012:
@Alexander von Gerlach, I get your ideas especially item number 4. On item 4, then it is where those who support the idea of job creation fit in. For those of you who think the idea of share ownership is out of the range, let me tell you that the Phuthuma Nathi(Multichoice) dividends were being declared over the weekend. You simply can not believe how much the dividends those people got from investing a mere R10 per share. The Phuthuma Nathi share has even gone up by now. Hence, the government should facillitate a similar transaction like the Eyethu (Ndebank), Phuthuma Nathi (Multichoice) schemes. I submit.
Comment by lehlolokoe on 6 August 2012:
Joale he bano ba faneng ka likeletso tseno ke litseketseke tsa hoqetela ones government take over controlling shares who will be interested in investing in lesotho mines and minerals no one i will offer you a free lecture stupid advisors and driven by corruption and greet bustards on this issue of mining my precious country men and women. oh basotho ba batle
Point number1 We are new in the industry of mining and ones the country take over mines all the current investors will leave with their money and more than 1500 basotho at Letseng mine will loose their jobs and the country will a huge revenue in GDP
stupid idea of take over or majority share hodlding busll shit
Comment by selotho on 7 August 2012:
ueso lehlolokoe your free lecture has fallen short of clarifying interesting points. please calm down, make clear panctuations and explain further.
Comment by Lefefooane on 7 August 2012:
@lehlolokoe, poor clawn. One thing you do not know is that the Letseng Diamond mine is being opened for the second time. It was closed in 1983 by the then BNP government because the investor then(De Beers) was being “dishonest” in declaration of the diamonds found. The mine had to lay bare until it was later opened by the LCD then minister of Natural resources Mr. Monyane Moleleki. So, we cannot compromise our mineral resources simply for fear of losing 1500 jobs. Those our diamonds are worth far more than the raw deal we are getting. Kea bothela.
Comment by selotho on 7 August 2012:
thank you lefefooane
Comment by Morakhoase on 7 August 2012:
I hope the National Planning Board was already in place, they would benefit from the sentiments of Mr Alexander von Gerlach.
Comment by Lefefooane on 8 August 2012:
@lehlolokoe, now that you know we are not knew in the industry I hope you will take a leave from my advice that “Natinalisation and FDI” are not mutually exclusive. You are talking like where there is much FDI there cannot be nationalisation. The answer is no. We surely do not benefit anything from having foreigners having as much as 76% in our mines. We would rather keep our mines if for the sake of some mostly low key 1500 artisans jobs we have to give our diamonds to foreigners. No ways. Our nation is bigger than the low paying 1500 jobs to warrant takeover of mines by some corrupt foreigners.
In fact, the government will go ahead with aquiring more stake in the mines. What remain a sticking point is what to do with the stake. My take is the stake be transferred to Basotho people. We cannot just be sitting and watching our diamonds go simply because some corrupt foreigner has emplyed some 1500 artisan miners. No ways. We need more say in our mines. Otherwise the corrupt infestors who have infested our mines can go hang. De Beers tried a similar trick in 1983, the we closed our mine. We need very brave leaders. Leabua o ne a o koale mine ono hobane maburu ano a De Beers a ne a bolile. So if you want to learn anything regards to mining, I will dish it out for free. Remeber how Dr.Khauhelo Raditapole rabushed the Trans Caledon (LHDA version of South Africa) who wanted Basotho to remove their sievs at Katse catchment. Those south africans wanted to claim all the diamonds thse tlang li hohotsoe ke Malibamatso me ba re Basotho ba tlose lisefe tseno mono. Raditapole a ba hopotsa hore hoa bona ke metsi e seng litaemane. Just remebr how Mothae mine was closed reopened then closed then reopened now. What about that white farmer who had fenced the Lithotobolong mine as a tourism site. The then Leabua guy ordered the white tour developer to remove the fence and the farmer complied. He banna. Ha re bana tabeng tsa limaene uena!!!
Comment by Qacha on 10 August 2012:
Somebody help! What an extra ordinary snow in Qacha s Nek, no food, electricity, transport, animals do not have anything to graze! In some places the snow is over a metre in height! THE SO CALLED TSUNAMI IS NOTHING COMPARED TO THIS SNOW. We are completely indoors. Some say it can be compared to the one of 1964! Q NEK will soon be a ghost town!
Comment by economist from sakeng mkg on 3 January 2013:
Lets first remember in Lesotho there others policy formation that are determinied by the monologue approach when construction of strategic discussion by the government rep being limited. Another back firing challenge is one of low form of economic participation by basotho nation, slow down coutry economic developmental states. My advice is, more industrialization in all coners of Lesotho can fasten our economic development. Introduction of Education system shuffling. More technical educational at tertiary levels should be implemented… Practice of Enterprise development Practice can creat more jobs… Livestock mentorship programmes…if basotho can form cooperative monitored by government and use masimo ho lemela liphoofo area bona then rena le comodity like wool, nama, lipere tsa lebelo,lintja le letlalo la likhomo. Look basotho can export all these to south Africa, and international markets…ordinary basotho ba kekeke ba lapa….
Comment by Alice on 14 February 2013:
Ha ho thusi letho hore ebe re na diamond but still re ea lapa, Le batho haileng mono pela mines tseo haba fumane letho! Liqhobong batho ba tlo tlosoa feela ba tlabe ba sena le hale rampai,Makaselara a rona ha ke a bue lintho tse phelang hore na batho bao ba tlo fumanang ha tlosoa moo. not only matlo,toilets from there what?
Leaders of this country you only think for yourselves… Pls wake up and work for people who put u there..
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