tito mboweni lesotho

(in the pic – Minister Mboweni, DG and Acting Commissioner). Minister Tito Mboweni delivers the 2018 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in parliament. 24/10/2018, Elmond Jioyane, GCIS

‘Make Lesotho part of South Africa’: Tito Mboweni shares controversial idea

Tito Mboweni has a few radical ideas, but this might top the lot. SA’s finance minister wants Lesotho to be this country’s ‘tenth province’.

tito mboweni lesotho

(in the pic – Minister Mboweni, DG and Acting Commissioner). Minister Tito Mboweni delivers the 2018 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in parliament. 24/10/2018, Elmond Jioyane, GCIS

He’s not been back on Twitter for very long, but Finance Minister Tito Mboweni knows how to whip-up a viral storm. The senion ANC politician took to social media on Sunday evening, and he came equipped with an earnest suggestion about solving Lesotho’s political woes – by making the country merge with South Africa.

His bold idea has drawn both praise and criticism, with citizens of both countries discussing the pros and cons of the proposal online. Lesotho remained a trending topic on Monday morning, and Minister Mboweni seems to have given locals plenty of food for thought.

Lesotho news: Presidential murder mystery causes chaos

Our neighbours are currently experiencing a scandal that’d be thrown out of Hollywood for being too salacious. President Thomas Thabane and the First Lady of Lesotho are both accused of being involved in the murder of the former’s second wife. The country’s police chief was suspended after finding evidence which tied the leader to the crime scene through his cell phone records.

Opposition parties are demanding that this wretched development is solved by a general election – which would be Lesotho’s fourth in the last seven years.

Tito Mboweni suggests “removing the border” with South Africa

Posting on his account, Tito Mboweni explained that the political situation in the Kingdom of Mountains has become too volatile for any international body to try and solve. He wants the border between SA and Lesotho – which covers the provinces of KZN, Free State and Eastern Cape – to be removed completely:

“Those who think that SADC or some political internal goodwill will solve this crisis don’t understand both the political economy of the Lesotho State or the political economy of Lesotho society. The solution is [to create] Southern Africa: Remove the border! Anybody who thinks that they’ll annex Lesotho should talk to me.”

“We, BaSotho will never countenance such thing. Mutually agree to remove borders and create a democratic Co-Federation. Yes. Me, on the side of BaSotho. Most of the key people involved here in these developments were either comrades or adversaries or classmates at the National University of Lesotho in the 1980s.”

Tito Mboweni