ing short on agoa - The Reporter Lesotho

FRIDAY 10 September 2021 | Vol 3 Issue 36

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Lesotho faLL-ing short on agoa

NEWS Lesotho suspends citizenship acquisition The ministry of home affairs this week announced another move to curb human trafficking by enforcing a three-month suspension of the acquisition of Lesotho citizenship and introduction of new requirements for visa application.

PAGE 04

Plans to revive drugs company

PAGE 05

• Grade 1-7 pupils taught in single hut

• Contractor absconded in 2010

• Ministry was not aware of the school’s situation until recently

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1.5m to be vaccinated by DecemberThe chief of staff of the National Covid-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC), Thabo Ntoi, says Lesotho will have reached herd immunity once about 1.5million people are vaccinated.

This is followed by prime minister’s Moeketsi Majoro’s recent declaration that by the end of September, Lesotho will have enough shots to vaccinate 500 000 people for the country to reach herd immunity in December.At a media briefing on Thursday this week, Ntoi said NACOSEC has moved from vaccinating only people with comorbidities to vaccinating everyone. That, he added, has resulted in an increase to up to 50 000 people receiving the jab in a week. Ntoi also explained that the strategy will make the available batch of vaccine to finish quick so that the country can get another type of vaccine.

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Are you aware of other schools in a similar predicament?

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By Neo KolaneJunior Reporter

The harsh and untenable conditions of learning in marginalised rural commu-nities once again came under the spot-

light with the recent revelation that pupils at Molatjeng Primary School at Semonkong some 114km south-east of the capital Maseru, are forced to flock in a derelict hut that serves as a classroom.

This after the construction of classrooms meant to accommodate learners in a conducive facility, was abandoned midway by a contractor in 2010.

The school has a total environment of a mi-serly 53 pupils who take turns to use the make-shift classroom. It has only two teachers.

The plan was to build classrooms that would house pupils from Grade 1-7, with each Grade having its own classroom. Also in the plans was construction of a storeroom to harbour school property would also be constructed.

As a result, the situation is making it ex-tremely difficult for teachers and learners to teach and study in a hut.

This is despite the government openly ex-pressing plans to provide every child with qual-ity education as a right. It has implemented the free primary education which began some years ago.

The school’s principal, ‘Mamahooana Kolobe, lamented the poor learning conditions which children and teachers have to endure. The thatch-roofed stone hut belongs to the lo-cal chief.

Kolobe said during inclement weather condi-tions, especially on rainy days, pupils are forced to stay home as rivers burst their banks.

“When the learners return to school, teach-ers have to re-teach the lessons taught while they were not in class,” Kolobe clearly regretted.

During his recent tour of Molatjeng Primary School, the minister of development planning Selibe Mochoboroane, promised to meet with the ministry of education and training officials to urge them to attend to the school’s unsavoury

a disservice to learning

situation.According to the Incheon Declaration

Framework for Action for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal Four, unlock-ing education’s power for all will require creat-ing more opportunity everywhere, but especial-ly in countries and regions in conflict.

The document continues to indicate that many of the largest education gaps are found in conflict and emergency situations.

“It is, therefore, critical to develop education systems that are more resilient and responsive

in the face of conflict, social unrest and natural hazards and to ensure that education is maintained during emergency, conflict and post-conflict situations.

“Better education is also central to prevent-ing and mitigating conflicts and crises and to promoting peace,” the document states.

Lesotho Council of NGO’s (LCN) pro-grammes director Sekonyela Mapetja says the ordeal of Molatjeng Primary is a microcosm of the hardships that afflict schools in Lesotho.

“Issues relating to education fall under LCN’s Health, Education and Social Develop-ment Commission, which also has an education advocacy forum.

“We advocate for quality and equal access to education for all especially for the vulnerable learners like those of Molatjeng Primary. We

monitor the ministry of education budget al-locations. We have seen low budget allocations, especially for schools’ infrastructure improve-ment.

“Of late, most of the schools built are either from the grants or donations from somewhere. This is why we have schools such as this one,” he observed.

Mapetja said the country has committed to implement the Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG4) which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable education for all. It promotes life-long learning opportunities for all.

He described the conditions under which the Molatjeng Primary School children and teach-ers operate as ‘appalling’, adding that there was no proper teacher-learner proportion at the fa-cility.

He said two teachers are more than enough for 50 or 60 pupils. He was at pains to learn that one teacher has to teach more than one class, describing that as burdensome to the instruc-tors.

“They should have 32 learners per week at most. It means in each grade they have 11 sub-jects that are to be taught per week; when that is multiplied by the number of grades a teacher teaches, it is beyond slavery.

“We need to measure how many learners are beyond the primary level age as in the case

of Molatjeng Primary. These learners do not ac-quire quality education and this is a challenge that is visible,” Mapetja said.

Meanwhile, the principal secretary of the ministry of basic education and training, Dr Dira Khama, acknowledged cognizance of the school’s condition. He confirmed that Mochob-oroane had talked to him about the situation.

He promised to attend to the needs of the school from this week.

IN another development, youth rights activ-ist, Kananelo Boloetse, did not mince his words as he decried the condition of the school, which he described as ‘unacceptable’.

“Education is a basic human right, just like life itself. Every person needs to have access to education, not only that but an education that will change one’s life by equipping them to com-bat poverty and provide for their family. But looking at Motjaleng Primary, it’s definitely one school that cannot empower a student to com-bat poverty and reach their goal of living.

“Quality education would help the country produce a quality human resource base such as good doctors. The country can afford to offer proper education as long as budgetary alloca-tions are handled efficiently. Misappropriation of funds is taking a toll on state coffers as only a few people benefit at the expense of the masses.

“The situation at Matjaleng Primary is heart-wrenching. There is money for service delivery and good education can be offered, but those in power would rather pocket state funds for their own gains. It is not acceptable that in the year 2021, we still have children who learn in such deplorable conditions,” he concluded.

the Condition of MoLatjeng PriMary sChooL is not ConduCive to ProPer Learning

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By ‘Majirata LatelaSenior Reporter

The ministry of home affairs this week announced another move to curb human trafficking by enforcing a three-month

suspension of the acquisition of Lesotho citizen-ship and introduction of new requirements for visa application.

After the country was upgraded to Tier Two in the 2021 Trafficking in Persons Report in the past two months for taking concrete measures to eliminate trafficking, the ministry continues to make strides to stop human traffickers from accessing the country without proper back-ground checks.

The minister of home affairs, Motlalentoa Letsosa said it has come to the attention of the ministry that non-Basotho apply for and ac-quire citizenship to use Lesotho as a gateway to other countries. After acquiring Lesotho citi-zenship with the help of corrupt government of-ficers, immigrants use Lesotho passports to get access to other countries.

“We suspect that there are people who use the country as a gateway to other countries, hence our move to suspend citizenship acqui-sition for three months while we continue with the investigations to identify loopholes.

“During these three months, we will look

Lesotho suspends citizenship acquisition

into records of people who were granted citizen-ship and trace where they live today. This will give us a clear picture of what we need to do because we have real doubts that some of these people no longer live in the country.

“We have also suspended the indefinite per-mit because we have noted similar challenges to people who have acquired citizenship. We are going to follow up on the reasons why people got indefinite permits to find out if the reasons they stipulated in their applications still apply,” Letsosa said.

He added that the ministry is also battling with the ‘joining a relative permit’ which peo-ple acquire only to use for different purposes. He said such people set up businesses illegally and later apply for ‘indefinite permits’, allowing them to stay in the country for as long as they wish.

He said during a random inspection of hold-ers of work permits the ministry uncovered foreigners who had taken up employment in Lesotho contrary to the law.

The minister said some immigrants visited the country as tourists but later apply for exten-sion of their stay and start looking for business opportunities.

Letsosa said the ministry is determined to halt such extensions of touring visitors when they change their intentions for continued stay.

He explained that such tourists need to go back to their countries of origin and return to apply for another stay.

On visa requirements, Letsosa explained that there no major changes for foreigners who require them.

He observed that Lesotho is not strict on de-manding that visiting foreigners produce return tickets upon entry, and that visitors should be in possession of return tickets upon entering the country. This, he said, would make it easier for the country to order them to return to their ori-gins if found flouting the law.

“This would free the country from the bur-den of unnecessary expenses of deporting ille-gal immigrants.

“Also, people who come here for business purposes, should have a bank-guaranteed state-ment proving that they have enough funds in the bank to pay for their own return tickets should they be ordered to return to their countries.

“People need to go back to their countries of origin at their own expenses not ours. We emphasize the issue of having a return ticket or enough money to, buy one’s own ticket. Also, we require the person to have medical insurance so that if they fall sick at the airport on arrival or upon departure the government does not have to incur any costs,” Letsosa urged.

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By Kefiloe KajaneJunior Reporter

The ministry of health is investigating aspects that led to the closure of the Lesotho Pharma-ceutical Corporation (LPC) following prime

minister Moeketsi Majoror’s directive for the resus-citation of the corporation.

A report on the past, current and future produc-tion capacity of generic medicines in Lesotho written by Gertrude Mothibe, a lecturer in pharmaceutical sciences and pharmaceutical chemistry at the Na-tional University of Lesotho (NUL) says in 1977 Le-sotho took the decision to protect its citizens against drug shortage in the event that the then South Africa should close its borders with Lesotho.

The report says the decision to have a National Drug Stockpile Organization (NDSO) was a direct response to the observed threat. A decision to manu-facture drugs in Lesotho gave birth to the Lesotho Dispensary Association (LDA) which has now be-come the LPC.

When launching the Mafeteng Hospital oxygen plant last week Majoro said a decision was made by cabinet to resuscitate the defunct LPC so as to pro-duce drugs and vaccines for medicinal purposes.

He said the decision was reached after realisation that Covid-19 pandemic emerged. The government learned that each country was to produce its own drugs so as to be independent. He said nations that produced own vaccines were highly protective in dis-tributing the jabs to other nations.

He foresaw that the Coronavirus would affect people’s lives for years to come.

“We need Lesotho Pharmaceutical Cooperation again here in Mafeteng as we already have National Drugs Service Organisation (NDSO). I still remem-ber vividly some of the products from the coopera-tion such as LDA lotion and some medication we pro-

Plans to revive drugs company

duced locally which other countries bought from us,“I have (established) a committee here that start-

ed working just recently which will look into how we can start producing our own medication.

“Minister (Semano) Sekatle has announced that he found that there was a slight mistake that led to the collapse of the corporation and has promised to bring it back to life. I am supporting the decision because I also want the corporation to begin opera-tions,” he told the public.

Majoro said the government’s dream was to es-tablish several pharmaceutical corporations for pro-duction of medicine. He was quick to observe that the country was endowed with a variety of high quality indigenous plants that could be used for medicinal purposes.

He was mindful of the NUL Mosotho lecturer who has used various plants to produce a cough mixture. He described the innovation as a good start towards the country producing its own medication.

“We have learned that we should not depend on

other countries to produce medication and vaccines for us because governments prioritise their own peo-ple before giving or selling vaccines to other people,” Majoro insisted.

In an interview with theReporter newspaper this week, principal secretary of the ministry of health, Khothatso Tšooana said his ministry did not obtain any written directive to work on resuscitating the LPC. But, he added, the ministry has started work on finding ways to bring to life the corporation follow-ing Majoro’s stern directive.

“Prime ministers sometimes do not have to write to us when they direct us to work on a certain matter. They sometimes talk in public like the prime minister has done. What we have to do is listen to what he said and do as he directs. He has given us the policy direction and it is for us as officers to do as he directs,

“There is a lot to learn or find out about the coop-eration. We need to learn about the laws that estab-lished it and leave no stone unturned when we scruti-

nise what actually transpired that led to the collapse. “At the moment I cannot say there is anything

tangible that we have uncovered as we are just in the beginning of the process,” Tšooana said.

For his part, the Lesotho Pharmaceutical As-sociation’s president, Temiso Letsatsi welcomed the move that is set to improve the country’s health sys-tem. He urged for a speedy start to implement the plan.

He bemoaned that the country has to date not produced any drug to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, saying by now the kingdom should be manufacturing its own personal protective equipment.

Letsatsi is confident that the country has capac-ity to find its own medicine. What is in shortage is the machinery, he remarked.

Letsatsi confirmed that the LPC was first known as Lesotho Dispensary Association but since it was a non- profit making association that was turned into a corporation when it made some profits.

“The cooperative worked very well until World Health Organisation introduced Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) around 2000. The WHO indicated that every company that produced medication has to acquire a GMP certificate which at that time was M22-million.

“The country as well as the association failed to acquire the certificate as the government offered the association M8-million which was not enough. That led to the association losing clients. Many countries such as Botswana, South Africa, then Swaziland and others which depended on Lesotho’s medica-tion started pulling out. This was because WHO has advised countries should buy medication from coun-tries which have GMP certificates,” Letsatsi said.

He said the association losing clients meant low profits and later failing to run the daily production.

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Stop the rot in education This week, we are running a story on the unpalatable condition of a school at Semonkong, where learners are forced to hurdle in a hut because a contractor who was engaged to build classrooms did a runner, leaving the school high and dry.

This is not the only school in Lesotho facing this predicament. A similar scenario is playing out at Qhobosheaneng Primary School at Lebakeng in Qacha’s Nek. There are a lot more, as a matter of fact. There is another one at Ha Thaba in Mantṧonyane.

Earlier this year we reported about how the ministry of education was still reeling from lost monies after payments were made for incomplete maintenance works at Ha Nthamaha High School in Mohale’s Hoek.

The maintenance works were to be carried out at the school included variations at the kitchen/dining hall and the construction of water supply in the year 2012. It emerged that the works on construction of water supply infrastructure were not complete while the furniture installed in the kitchen did not match the required standards.

According to information in our possession, an amount of M384 000 was paid out by the ministry under the pretext that the catering equipment had been supplied to the kitchen/dining hall, with false pictures being attached to the certificate for works done.

The beneficiary, a construction company which was reported to have completed the work, was paid M2 093,041.

This is reminiscent of the widely publicised schools that were ‘built in the air’ just over a decade ago. Millions of (read donor) money was diverted and pocketed by gluttons in power while Basotho suffer. It is highly likely that the contractor who abandoned construction of Molatjeng Primary School received full payment, and is probably out there swindling the taxpayer of more money.

This has to stop. We would like to see everyone responsible for this theft of public funds probed and prosecuted. Finally, we pay tribute to the chief who has lent out his hut to the school to operate from.

By Natale Labia

The world in 2005 was a very different place. This was before the financial cri-sis, Eurozone crisis, European refugee

crisis, Russia annexing Crimea, and of course the Covid-19 pandemic. Donald Trump was on a reality TV show and Thabo Mbeki was presi-dent of South Africa. It also happened to be the year that he fired his vice-president, Jacob Zuma.

First published in the Daily Maverick 168 weekly newspaper.

It was perhaps a time when listening and compromise were in vogue, and when common-sense leaders could thrive. Optimism abounded as all major economies were expanding at rapid rates. In the US, the subprime housing sector was on a tear. With commodities booming, the South African economy grew at a near record and now scarcely believable 5.3%.

And yet, of all the things that have changed, one has not: who the most powerful person in Europe and the most powerful woman on the planet is. This year, after an astonishing 16 years at the pinnacle of German and European influence, Angela Merkel will step down. Politi-cally, but also economically, what is her legacy?

According to David McAllister, chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee of the European Parliament and senior member of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, Merkel’s time as chancellor can be described succinctly: con-sensus and compromise. With her time in the Chancellery in Berlin being characterised by one storm engulfing the world after another, she was the “Crisis Chancellor” par excellence. Each time she avoided taking long-term stra-tegic positions. Instead, what she did has even resulted in a new German verb being coined. What she did was to “Merkeln”, which can be roughly translated as muddling through by finding a solution that was what no one wanted and was universally fairly disliked, and there-fore broadly acceptable to everybody.

Katarina Barley, her former justice minister, adds that this ability to pull solutions out of the hat at the very last minute is down to her per-sonal style of calmly and steadfastly listening, assessing, weighing up all the various points

‘Crisis Chancellor’ par excellence: the search for the legacy of angela Merkel

of view and then finally deciding on a position. Born in former East Germany and with a PhD in quantum chemistry, Merkel approached po-litical and economic problems as if in a labora-tory. “Quite astonishingly, she has almost no political ego at all,” says Barley.

This quality, all too rare in the gung ho world of politics today, has been almost universally praised. However, after all these crises, all this muddling through and all this consensus, try-ing to define what she stood for remains elu-sive. When politicians are so determined to rule through consensus and are so averse to Macro-nian grand statements or, that much maligned word, “visions”, it can be very hard to tell what they represent ideologically, if anything at all.

Economically this is even more problem-atic. Following the large-scale reforms of the Schröder era, she had no master plan for the economy and gambled on ever-ebullient Ger-man exports. This gamble paid off, despite the German economy running persistent current account surpluses, much to the chagrin of its Eurozone neighbours.

Her fixation on balancing budgets became the stuff of legend, leading to lazy comparisons with a strict Hanoverian housewife watching every pfennig. The fact that her nickname is Mutti, or mother, did not help. A major coup was altering the German constitution to legally force the Federal Republic and Bundesländer into running balanced budgets or the “schwarze Null”, black zero. This she then managed to ex-

port to the Eurozone itself, by strong-arming all member states into agreeing to run balanced budgets in the Stability and Growth Pact.

The consequences of this during the Euro-zone crisis were disastrous, compounding the downturn with procyclical fiscal policy. While the US powered out of the financial crisis through fiscal stimulus, the Eurozone stumbled on for years, trapped in this Germanic fiscal straitjacket. Muddling through from one crisis European Council meeting to the next, for al-most six years no one could tell whether Greece was going to remain part of the common mon-etary area or not, and indeed whether the euro itself would survive. The austerity measures that were enforced on Greece with her support by the troika had disastrous economic and hu-manitarian consequences.

Her views on the Eurozone itself and Eu-ropean integration can best be described as nebulous to the point of nonexistence. Always wary of taking a grand economic leap, after the rapid progress of the 1990s critics blame her for being a handbrake and putting integration on hold. Split east to west on immigration and the rule of law, and north to south on a future fis-cal union, Europe today is almost more divided than ever. The cause of Federalists has never seemed tougher.

While there is no doubting her abilities in handling crises, history may judge her harshly. German chancellors tend to go down in history for the one or two major contributions they made; Konrad Adenauer, for forging a country post-apocalypse; Willy Brandt, for engaging with Gorbachev; Helmut Kohl, for unification and the euro. Merkel may simply be remem-bered for dealing with the combined pressures of the Eurozone crisis, the immigration crisis and the pandemic. This will sadly, however, not be enough for her hagiographers to be able to claim that she was, indeed, a great chancellor. DM

visit our website: www.thereporter.co.ls/alliance10 September 2021

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Leruo

By TKay Nthebe

We are eager to get your comments about this column and the topics we cover. You can reach out to us at: [email protected]

I am a big fan of mekhatlo because of the po-tential they have in helping individuals and households achieve their financial goals. For

those who struggle to save, being a member of one can help instil a culture of saving, discipline, and accountability. For example, we have dif-ferent types of mekhatlo in Lesotho, each with their own financial goals or objectives such as buying bulk groceries, covering burial expens-es, birthdays, travel, and investments clubs.

I recently had a conversation with a client who is a member of a mokhatlo in Ha Matala, a savings club that has potential to achieve big financial goals if they have proper guidance and advice. In our discussion, I picked up that they have huge sums of money, deposited in a non-interest-bearing account, and do not know what to do with the funds. As with many other me-khatlo, the lack of financial literacy, knowledge about available financial products and guidance limits their potential to grow.

In this week’s article, I want to discuss strate-gies that mekhatlo should leverage on to grow and achieve their financial goals.

1. governance and registration As a point of departure, mekhatlo need to have a constitution that outlines reasons why it ex-ists, contributions per member, how member-ship subscriptions will be collected and where collections will be kept. It is also important to appoint a committee to oversee the operations of the saving club and a custodian (usually re-ferred to a treasurer) to manage the finances. Mekhatlo can also register with the Law Office.

2.Leverage on financial products avail-able Financial service providers (FSP) which in-cludes banks, insurance companies, asset man-agement companies and mobile money provid-ers have developed tailored financial solutions for mekhatlo. This includes bank accounts

how to leverage on Mekhatlo to achieve financial goals & build Leruo

(with online access), mobile money accounts, access to insurance benefits, and investments. Mekhatlo have an advantage because of the economies of scale i.e., number of members and size of contributions, making solutions more affordable. Similarly, FinTech companies have launched financial solutions with the aim of helping mekhatlo collect membership subscrip-tions conveniently, leveraging the power of tech-nology. These solutions also encourage trans-parency and accountability amongst members.

3. develop growth mindsets and have an investment strategyTraditionally, mekhatlo (depending on the type) collect monthly subscription fees from Janu-ary until December, share and start over again in the new year. While there is nothing wrong with this; my concern, however, is that many

mekhatlo in Lesotho are not fully taking advan-tage of their growth potential and remain small. Although not formally organised and regulated in Lesotho, the amount of money that flows through mekhatlo is significant. In South Africa for example, the estimated savings according to the National Stokvel Association of South Africa (Nasasa) is R50 billion per annum, with over 800 000 registered stokvels – this is huge!

Mekhatlo, collectively have the potential to build the economy, by investing in small busi-nesses, developing infrastructure, buying, or developing property, thus increasing their in-come and creating employment. Let’s graduate from just being savings clubs and work towards building Leruo.

Lets’oele le beta poho! Kopano ke matla!

The Cabinet this week approved the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill 2021, paving way for the draft law to be tabled in parliament.In an interview with theReporter this week, LRA’s public relations manager Pheello Mphana said when approved, the law will help the authority in improving taxation of imported services and how to tax digital economy. He said there were no specific laws dealing with that directly. He said there are many digital services that are being provided but that there is no legislation guiding the tax collection.“Although we cannot go in to much details now about it, but the bill is going to help us a lot on how those digital services can be taxed. There were many gaps where you will find that there is economic activity that is happening that has no laws guiding them,” he explained. The Bill is an amendment of the 2001 Value Added Tax Act. This is after in August, hundreds of African finance and tax officials convened for a tax policy dialogue hosted by the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) at which they discussed ways to boost government taxing rights.

Cabinet okays VAT law

visit our website: www.thereporter.co.ls/business10 September 2021



Standard Lesotho Bank this week launched ACAP in a partnership with DHL Lesotho in an endeavor to facilitate

trade and make it easier for Basotho to import goods from China.

In a statement by the bank, it stated that it has introduced the Africa China Agent Propo-sition (ACAP), a new trade facilitation offering for businesses and individuals in collaboration with DHL Lesotho, a leading global shipping and logistics company in a partnership that is intended to make it affordable for Basotho to import goods.

The Bank said with ACAP, it will connect Basotho entrepreneurs and individual buyers of goods with specialized agents and manufac-turers in China to facilitate the seamless sale of high-quality goods that meet their full specifica-tions and international benchmarks and certi-fications. It further said that the offering also covers other barriers such as language, making

standard bank launches aCaP

it easy and convenient for Basotho to find qual-ity goods cheaper and easier in the comfort of their homes.

“This offering also arranges for customs clearance and shipping of goods by DHL Le-sotho, which provide up to 40 percent and 60 percent discount for Basotho importers. The ACAP offering comes at a time when interna-tional travel is becoming more expensive and highly restricted at the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and it provides a necessary interven-tion to address these challenges.

“It is bringing convenience and reduction of costs, whilst at the same time ensuring that Basotho businesses get high quality products and value for money, in the convenience of their homes and businesses. The solution is an end-to-end offering which also signals the impor-tance of collaboration for the convenience of the customer, through the collaboration with DHL, who are also an international freight forwarder of note with extensive experience in the Africa-China corridor,” the statement said.

According to the statement, DHL country

manager Khethang Ramalefane said they are delighted to have partnered with Standard Le-sotho Bank to provide the unique and cutting-edge solution for the benefit of Basotho.

“For us as DHL, we bring expertise of over 50 years in the business. Operating in over 220 countries globally, we certainly bring value in this partnership and we are indeed honored to have been approached by the Bank of Stature, who are the best in Lesotho and Africa,” Rama-lefane said.

Standard Lesotho Bank said the launch of ACAP in partnership with DHL is also in keep-ing with the strategy of the Bank to connect Lesotho to the world.

It explained that it is also a requisite enabler to Africa-China trade which is also poised to increase Lesotho’s footprint on digital economy.

“The offering is also aligned to Lesotho’s National Strategic Development Plan II on mat-ters relating to trade, especially Between Leso-tho and China, which is estimated to account for 17 percent of all imports to Lesotho valued at around M4billion,” the statement read.


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Local financial company VCL Financial Services this week launched a new appli-cation ‘My Mpesa App’ which is meant

to give customers who use smart phones ad-vanced Mpesa services.

VCL Financial Services managing director Palesa Mphunyetsane says the Mpesa App will be available to Android users as the company realised that most of its customers are smart-phone and android users.

Mphunyetsane said the company came up with the App because “when customers were using SSD *111#, and got one digit wrong, they had to start all over. This has led to the estab-lishment of the service as an improvement to the quality of services offered by the company.

“Also this App is going to decrease the chances of money being lost to a different num-ber when sending Mpesa. With time, we will in-troduce the App to other users like IPhone but for now it is only available for Android users. We are also planning to introduce all the ser-vices that are found on Mpesa SSD on the App with time,” Mphunyetsane said.

Adding to what Mphunyetsane said, VCL Financial Services commercial manager Mala-tola Phothane said the App can be found on the Google Play Store. He said customers downloading the App should make sure that they search ‘My Mpesa App Lesotho’. He in-dicated that to download the App a customer will only need 8 megabytes but when the App is installed, a customer can access services on it without data.

“Currently not all the services of Mpesa

vCL financial services launches Mpesa app

are there on the App. For now, customers can withdraw money, send, pay bills as well as pay merchandise. Customers who will be able to use the App are those who have Mpesa account and they will login on the App with their Mpesa credentials.

“After the first activation of the App, a cus-tomer can be able to use the App even when

they do not have VCL sim card but as long as they have to login in before to confirm that they are the owner of the account,” he explained.

This comes less than two months after Vo-dacom Lesotho announced that its M-Pesa di-vision will now operate under a newly set up independent company known as VCL Financial Services.

Authorised by the Central Bank of Lesotho, the entity will be a licensed financial services provider, fully owned by Vodacom Lesotho. Launched in 2013, M-Pesa has grown from only 1,900 registered customers to over one million, with monthly transaction values surpassing M1-billion.

There has been a significant growth in production at Letšeng Dia-monds in the half first of the year,

with a total 58 831 carats recovered, an increase of 36 percent from the half year of 2020.

This according to the mine’s Half-Year Report for the period ending 30 June 2021, which was released recently by Gem Diamonds which owns 70 percent of Letšeng in partnership with the govern-ment of Lesotho, which owns the remain-ing 30 percent.

The report indicates that the half year of 2020 was significantly impacted by the operational 30-day shutdown and further ramp-up period to bring the operation to full capacity due to COVID-19.

“Carats recovered (in 2021) increased by four percent when compared to the half first 2019, which was a more comparable period, mainly due to the higher contribu-tion from satellite pipe material.

“The mine’s Business Transformation initiative to re-treat historic and current recovery tailings through the mobile X-ray sorting machine recovered 592 carats compared to 456 in the same period in 2020. An additional 43 carats were recov-ered by the new mobile fines X-ray sort-ing machine that was commissioned at the

Letšeng productivity improves By Poloko MokheleJunior Reporter

end of May.”“Four hundred and thirty-one large dia-

monds were recovered during the period, with three 100 carats, nine 60-100 carats, forty-three 30-60 carats, fifty-nine 20-30 carats, while three hundred and seventeen were between 10-20 carats. The increase in the number of diamonds recovered in the 10 to 20 carat size category is mainly a result of the material treated during the Period, a part of which had an expected smaller diamond size,” the report states.

The average price achieved during the dia-monds sales during the half year period was US$1 886 per carat for 55 123 carats generating revenue of US$104.0 million. “The highest price achieved was for a 3.35 carat pink diamond that

sold for US$119 886 per carat. The highest price achieved for a white diamond was for a 254 carat diamond that sold for US$40 139 per carat.”

Ten diamonds were sold for more than US$1.0 million each, generating revenue of US$36.1 million (H1 2020: 16 diamonds sold for more than US$1.0 million each, generating rev-enue of US$29.4 million).

The report noted that “COVID-19-related travel restrictions, saw the first Letšeng Dia-monds tender of 2021 postponed to March. Since then the Group has successfully con-cluded its scheduled half first of 2021 tenders in Antwerp. All tenders held in half first of 2021 were fully attended and a high number of bids

per parcel were observed – reinforcing the fact that Letšeng’s high-quality diamonds remain in strong demand.”

An estimated M15 100 per employee is said to have been spent at Letšeng on PPE and testing to date. The mine’s total di-rect cash costs increased by 24 percent to M580.7 million. “The increase is mainly due to the reduced costs in the first half of 2020 due to the 30-day operational shutdown and subsequent ramp-up period.”

Notwithstanding the increase in total costs, the unit cost per tonne decreased due to Letšeng operating at normal capac-ity during the period. Tonnes treated were 33 percent higher and waste tonnes mined were 97 percent higher compared to first half of 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19 on production volumes in 2020. Total oper-ating costs increased by seven percent to M782.7 million in first half of 2021.

Commenting on the report Gem Dia-monds CEO, Clifford Elphick said “we are pleased with the results achieved during the period and to see a continued strong de-mand for Letšeng’s high quality diamonds and the positive impact on prices achieved.”

Meanwhile Gem Diamonds has also an-nounced that “in order to further leverage its strong position in the large diamond market, the Group is planning to host its first trial tender viewing for Letšeng’s dia-monds in Dubai in September 2021.”


visit our website: www.thereporter.co.ls/opportunities10 September 2021

Steinhoff is facing a liquidation challenge in the Western Cape High Court which has been brought forward by the former owners of shoe retailer, Tekkie Town.Tekkie Town says it was duped into swapping its share with Steinhoff shares before the collapse of Steinhoff in 2017.In a statement on Thursday, Steinhoff said the final settlement vote for a R24-billion settlement plan with its shareholders would take place ‘later’. If the 75% vote is achieved, the settlement will see litigants drop all current and future legal actions against the embattled retailer.Former Tekkie Town CEO Bernard Mostert says: “In terms of what has been lost, our portion of the value is R1.8 billion. Then there’s an issue of the earn-out that we have against Steinhoff subsidiary formerly Steinhoff Africa retail, now called Pepkor and that amounts to you know in our estimation that would have amounted to about a billion rand.


FRANCHISE CORNER: Steinhoff faces liquidation court challenge

VACANCIESSCLC Polihali Diversion Tunnel JV is a Joint venture constituted for execution of Polihali Diversion Tunnel Projects on behalf of Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) currently based in Mokhotlong 28 km from Mapholaneng. The main works consists of excavation of two tunnels one with 7 Meters diameter and a length of 910 meters and the sec-ond one is 9 Meters diameter and a length of 960 Meters. These preliminary works are for the construction of Polihali Dam and related tunnel. The expected project duration is up to December 2021.

POSITION JOB Requirements Qualifi cations

AutoCAD Specialist Requirements: • Creating accurate CAD drawings from hand sketches, verbal instructions, and site visits.• Seamlessly integrating and working with project managers design consultants, and sub-contractors, to produce and alter drawings.• Thinking creatively and critically to support the project team in the design process, to create sketches and drawings that work.• Creating and continually updating project drawings lists.• Printing various formats of drawing sets for project managers and site superintendents.• Systematically saving sketches and drawings on our CAD server; keeping the server organized; updating project folders and fi les as jobs progress and revisions are made.• Exhaustively reviewing and checking sketches and drawings for errors, before being sent to architects, subcontrac-tors, project managers, etc.• Organizing and uploading drawings to web-based storage sites/collaboration project sites to share drawings with project and subcontractors.• DTM modeling with civil 3D to obtain roads, Platforms, and various earthmoving designs • Knowledge of application and experience of reinforcement and concrete formwork scaffolding.

• Minimum 10 years’ experience in the infrastructure fi eld• Certifi cate in advance AutoCAD training and knowledge of civil 3D mandatory.

Additional requirements: • Computer literacy• An eye for details and analytical thinking

Procurement Manager Requirements• Provides inputs to implementation of operational strategies.• Supports management of procurement processes and implementation of sourcing strategy and electronic procure-ment tools.• Control of offi ce and project assets and organization of logistical services.• Purchase order reconciliation; timely corrective actions on purchase orders with budget check errors and other problems and closing of purchase orders.• Implementation of the internal control system which ensures that Purchase orders are duly prepared, dispatched and reconciled• Maintain centralized fi ling system for procurement documents including tenders, bid securities and purchase orders.• Full compliance of procurement activities with SCLC rules, regulations, policies, and strategies; implementation of the effective internal control, analysis of parameters in support of proper design and functioning of a client-oriented procurement management system

Qualifi cations.• Certifi cate in procurement and purchasing • Minimum 10 Years of experience in Construction and Pro-curement, especially in management role with mastery in SAP System

Additional Skills • Sound supervisory skills.• Knowledge of the Lesotho Market, South Africa Market, and International Market.

DISCLAIMER: • Ezech Obum is not an employee of SCLC JV and has got no powers or authorizations by the SCLCJV to do recruitment nor issue any document on our behalf. • SCLCJV is distancing itself from any fraudulent activities related to Ezech Obum. • SCLC JV will never require any candidate to pay any amount of money to get the position.

Applications must be hand delivered to the places below or emailed to [email protected] , and submitted on or before 25th September 2021 @ 4pm. Only Shortlisted Candidates will be contacted.• SCLCJV Offi ce, Bishops Place, Tona-Kholo Road Unit B1 • Malingoaneng Principal Chief Offi ce • Thabang Principal Chief Offi ce • Mokhotlong Urban Council • Mokhotlong District Administrator Offi ce • Mapholaneng Council • LHDA Offi ce Tlokoeng

Refiloe ‘Mateboho Makote is a co-founder of Kid n Gear, a small business that deals in kids clothing.

Kid n Gear is an online peer-to-peer market-place for selling and buying new and gently used baby, toddler and kids clothing and toys. Being peer-to-peer means that the buyer can also be the seller and visa-versa.

She and her two business partners established Kid n Gear in February 2021 and according to Ma-kote.

Initially it was a personal need, to find a bet-ter way to re-use baby clothes and increase her economic power.

Later, she learned that she was not the only one who was struck by the idea. It was a societal issue that kids outgrow their clothing items and materials such as baby cots, strollers, car seats and shoes.

“They leave them still in good condition. Also, I am a mother and I learned that being a mother can bring so much a task that when kids grow up

Makote reates online kids’ clothing business they leave the materials they used at a ceratin age. These items end up unused.

“In order to buy from the platform, you simply go online with your laptop, tablet or smartphone and visit: https://kidngear.co.ls. Once you land on the website, you can browse our products and if you find one that strikes your interest, you can add it to cart and continue shopping for more items or can simply checkout and make payment via a deposit into our business account. In the near future, other checkout options will include cash-on-delivery,” Makote explained.

She explained that customers can use local mobile paying methods like M-Pesa and Eco-Cash facilities.

She explained that in order to sell on the plat-form, one has to apply to become a seller. Those involved can be anyone from ordinary individuals with interest to declutter their homes and make quick cash to professional sellers who specialise in baby and kids gear.

The application, she suggested,is done entirely online on the website. Those willing to be involved can visit: https://kidngear.co.ls/become-a-sell-er, and follow up on the instructions.

“If your application is approved or rejected, you will be notified via email. Once that is approved, you will have your own online shop within the plat-form where you can start uploading the pictures of your baby items be they new or gently used. Then you can start selling to everyone in Maseru. The whole process that involves application,approval and starting to sell takes about 30 minutes, de-

pending on the number of items one wants sell,” she enthused.

In addition, she noted that buyers are to start having their own websites without having to pay thousands of Maloti to build a website. That, ac-cordinf to her, will generally create business op-portunities for many including those who will de-liver purchases to their owners.

“So far the challenges we have faced on this venture have been technical more than anything else. For example, we have had a huge challenge in having Facebook enable our customers to check-out from their platform or having product dy-namic ads that send a prospect to a product page on our website. The technological requirement to build this kind of platform is very expensive. Also, the fact that our country does not have a lot of information technology companies that are build-ing these kind of software applications is very challenging. But lucky for us, our founding team consists of highly technical and knowledgeable personnel who are able to swirl through the chal-lenge,” she said.

The Gear n Kid can be found on facebook un-der the same name.


OPPORTUNITIES

Country Chief Executive O�cer – Ref: ER/LFSL/02

The Letshego Group is a truly African multinational which �rst opened in Botswana more than 21 years ago by o�ering loans to government employees. Today the Group has over 3,000 employees from over 21 countries, and supports public and private sector individual customers, as well as micro and small business entrepreneurs. The Board of Letshego Lesotho invites suitably quali�ed and experienced business leaders to apply, through Mandarin Advisory Services, for the position of:

To provide leadership to Letshego's Lesotho subsidiary and mobilise the country personnel to achieve its strategic objectives set by the Group and Local Board. The CEO is responsible for the country's ongoing performance and management to produce maximum shareholder value consistent with observing its obligations to all its stakeholders.

Core Accountabilities and Responsibilities• Board administration and support: Supports operation and administration of Board by advising and informing Board members, interfacing between Board and sta�, and supporting Board's evaluation of the business• Stakeholder Engagement and Management: Leads the practical engagement with a wide range of stakeholders to understand issues and develop relationships• Strategy and Management: Develops the country's design for Board consideration and approval and leads the Executive Team in e�ecting the Board's and/or its Committees' decisions • Financial Management: Recommends yearly budget and capital appropriations for the subsidiary and local Board approval and prudently manages resources within those budget guidelines• People: Articulates the culture of Letshego and leads a positive work environment• Governance: Supports the country's Chairman and Head Legal and Compliance concerning all aspects of corporate governance• Supports the engagement and development of relationships with third parties to ensure viability and competitiveness in a changing business environment• Ensures the subsidiary's businesses and operations are within legal and regulatory requirements• Maintains and improves operational performance• To be fully responsible for the profit & loss of the country Business Unit

Quali�cations and Experience• Masters’ Degree in Business/Finance or equivalent• Minimum of 15 years in financial services organisation, with at least 5 years at executive management level• Prior experience in microfinance will be an added advantage

Skills and Competencies• Consensus and relationship building among multi-disciplinary executives, partners, and the workforce• Experience in developing profitable strategies and implementing vision• Excellent communication and public speaking skills• An entrepreneurial mind-set with outstanding organisation and leadership skills• Familiarity with diverse business functions such as marketing, PR, finance etc.• In-depth knowledge of corporate governance and general management best practices • In-depth knowledge and experience in multi-currencies and foreign exchange management• Knowledge of fintech, mobile micro solutions such as e-wallets, mobile savings and commercial/retail/agency/ transactional banking operations and solutions

Country Chief Executive O�cer – Ref: ER/LFSL/02

To apply for this opportunity, please email your comprehensive CV and concise cover letter indicating your suitability for the position, to [email protected] no later than 16:00 on Tuesday the 14th of September 2021. Please quote reference number in your email subject.Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

ESTATE NOTICE ESTATE LATE LETSEMA NATHANEAL PITIKOE E80/2021

Notice is hereby given in terms of S. 34 of Administration of Estates Proclamation No. 19 of 1935 calling upon all heirs, legatees and creditors

of the deceased to attend before the Master of the high court at the office of the Master of High Court, Ground Floor, Sun Gardens, Unit

2: near High Court of Lesotho on 9th September 2021 at 10:00am for purposes of:

Proposing some person/persons to be appointed by the Master as Executor Dative.

DATED AT MASERU THIS 23RD AUGUST 2021Master of high court Office

P.O. BOX 90Maseru 100M. KOTELO

ASSISTANT MASTER OF HIGH COURT

ESTATE NOTICEESTATE LATE SEMONA MOTHIBELI SIMON MOTSETSE E 01/2021

Notice Is hereby given in terms of section 34 of the Administration of Estates Proclamation No: 19 of 1935 calling upon all heirs, legatees and creditors of the deceased to attend before the Master of the high Court

at Mafeteng District Administrators office in Mafeteng near old Police Station on 28th September at 11:00 a.m. for the purpose of:

Proposing some person/persons to be appointed by the Master as executor dative.

DATED AT MAFETENG THIS 27th JULY 2021

Master of the High Court Office First Floor

Sun Gardens Buildings Near the High Court of Lesotho

P.O. Box 90Maseru 100


FARMING

The Lesotho National Farmers Union says farmers have the will to engage in farm-ing and supply of food commodities to the

markets but have to navigate through an assort-ment of challenges.

According to LENAFU programmes manager Khotso Lepheane, the farming community faces difficulty in accessing markets probably due to poor quality of the produce, low production vol-umes and erratic supply to the markets.

In his address during the national market-ing linkages forum hosted by the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) in Maseru this week, Lepheane said the forum was intended to improve adaptive capacity of vulnerable and food insecure population in Lesotho.

The forum was attended by farmers and trad-ers, who shared ideas on how to could help each other to improve farmers’ markets in Lesotho.

He further indicated that while farmers are always free and independent to do their farming activities, they should not work as individuals. He said the agricultural business environment requires farmers to work together as players in agriculture, noting that they operate in a complex and dynamic environment.

“Access to finance is key to ensuring profit-ability and sustainability to smallholders’ activi-ties. It enables smallholder farmers to invest in the necessary infrastructure, equipment and cash flow that will help them produce, purchase, store, process and better market their products.”

“Effective research and extension is critical and also an important element to promoting fram-

farmers pine for good marketsBy Kefiloe KajaneJunior Reporter

ers access to market. It helps farmers overcome the challenges affecting production and consist-ency on the supply of food commodities to the markets.

“Access to inputs is also discouraged by the high costs of farming inputs and forces farmers to opt for low quality inputs with low or poor returns. Information and technology are also of great im-portance in the farming sector, but some of use obsolete technology which is no longer beneficial,” Lepheane said.

He noted farmers are mainly smallholders and are not very organised when it comes to market-ing of their produce that failed to govern the value chain.

He further said that while farmers blame trad-ers for offering very low prices for their produce, traders also blame farmers for not providing ad-equate produce with the right specifications.

Speaking on behalf of WFP and its experience on access to market activities, Ntebaleng Thet-sane, said smallholder’s farmers usually engage in WFP’s food assistance initiatives either as benefi-ciaries of food assistance or food suppliers.

She also said that through its interventions, WFP demonstrated that an assured market for farmers produce, improves farmers’ livelihoods and their role in local food systems through inclu-sive agricultural and economic development that are key to achieving food security.

“We provide smallholder farmers with stable demand through assured and patient buyers, such as WFP, local and national school feeding pro-grammes and private companies. This encourages them to invest in their production by improving the quality and quantity of their produce. Govern-

ment and private buyers are supported in adapt-ing their buying practices to meet the needs and capacities of smallholder farmers.

“We however saw some challenges faced by smallholder’s farmers through our assessment. These include limited produce surplus which re-quired aggregation systems like working as coop-eratives/organizations/associations for collective marketing, better bargaining power, and higher quality produce. The ability to aggregate helps farmers aggregate better volumes that can earn a larger share of the market price, while focus is on enabling farmers to produce more, higher qual-ity and nutritious crops. There is need to support smallholders by providing them with basic storage facilities and strengthening post-harvest handling skills to increase the marketable surplus and to ensure easy access by the private sector,” she said.

The WFP’s representative and country direc-tor Aurore Rusiga stated that agriculture plays a significant role in Lesotho’s economy. Over 70 per-cent of the country’s population lives in rural areas and depends, directly or indirectly, on agriculture for employment and livelihood.

She indicated the sector has the highest poten-tial to increase food security, reduce rural poverty and generate both on- and off-farm employment opportunities while contributing to the sustain-ability of economic growth and resilience for the country.

However, she warned that Lesotho’s agricul-tural sector suffers from low levels of productivity and commercialisation which has made the coun-try heavily dependent on food imports to meet domestic consumption needs.

“The Lesotho National Strategic Development

Plan (NSDP II) names agriculture as one of the key areas for the development and growth of the country’s economy with the type of agriculture practiced being subsistence with minimal com-mercial farming, across 10 districts of Lesotho,” Rusiga said.

Ministry of education school feeding team training officer Thuto Ntšekhe-Mokhele said there were market opportunities in the school feeding schemes for farmers.

She said approximately 1,692.7 tons of pulses are needed to feed 313,461 learners per annum. She explained that schools are a good market for farmers.

“Farmers just need to have the capacity for such market. It is a market that is not seasonal; as long as schools are open a child needs to eat,” she said.

The director of marketing at the ministry of agriculture and food security Lekhooa Makhate pointed out that the ultimate goal was attainment of national goals of employment creation, food se-curity and poverty alleviation.

“While market linkages involve the process of identifying, evaluating, developing and promot-ing of agricultural commodities into the markets, connecting farmers to markets still poses a chal-lenge. Farming enterprises continue to experience post-harvest losses although some development initiatives such as EIF and SADP have provided interventions to enhance productivity.

“Progress in recent market linkage initiatives include the Marakeng App, an initiative designed in such a way that buyers and farming enterprises connect remotely to complete business transac-tions. It is supported by UNDP.”


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COLUMN - SIMPLE THINGS

By Mohau KhupaColumnist

MY STORY, A LESSON FOR YOU AND I

When I started this column, I was fascinated with the idea of tell-ing my brothers what it took to

be in good form. In those days I was just a theorist and a bad teacher. I have since tak-en an expert advice to relate and not teach - It has been cathartic for me. So glad you’re reading this.

As I am doing with this one too, I have told my story. I have let go of the stigma that I had attached to some of these anecdotes, you know, feelings of stupor and backward-ness or bokoata as it’s alternatively known. Apart from that there is the know yourself and love yourself renaissance burgeoning, these are the experiences that has made me the man I am now – I like who I have become. I like the prospect of becoming a lot more too. I have since hoped that each article gets you in shape. I like telling my story, so you can relate to it and possibly as-similate that, experience, even if it’s not your own, is a better teacher than theory.

Counselling and storytelling, for me, is a show business. I can always exercise an option of telling these young men what to do and how to be great, yet why would

they take my word for it? For all they know I’m just a young man who thinks he has got it all figured. So I’ll just journal my story from a man’s perspective and accent the lessons for takeaways – why not? At least then, even if I’m telling my story to a nonconformist like myself I’m taking them through the experiences that got me in shape.

That has been the thematic development of the column. I ask that you switch perspectives and see yourself, your story reflected in my story, or you’ll miss the point. I ask that you

do not take it as just too alien a story to learn from. A place of empathy, for me, is the best position to learn from the storytellers. It’ll help too to pray for your senses to open up to the lessons.

I have never intended to inspire a genera-tion of my look alikes – and if I have, I have been misunderstood. The plan is to inspire your highest self, it’s always been. I like to think that these lessons will not lose their rel-evance and that you carry them forward. You should find them helpful or I’m failing. Some

of the memories that I have related are my fondest yet, and some are not. I can not relive any of them; I do not want to, and even if I did, I can only replay them.

Writing for show; an example: ‘Three men travelling on foot on a cold weather come across a stream which they must cross, where one proceeds to wade into the stream right away, while the second man evades the stream and takes a different direction, while the third man rests by the stream.’


EDUCATION

Funeral plan

Toll Free: 8002 2300

Metropolitan Lesotho is a subsidiary of Momentum Metropolitan Holdings, a registered and authorised financial services provider.

By Poloko MokheleJunior Reporter

The National University of Lesotho students have come out guns blazing against the management’s decision to

suspend accommodation for senior students at the university’s residence, due to renovations which are expected to take place.

The university’s management says it plans to renovate the residences from this month to November and may continue to offer most of the tuition activities online “therefore students may study from home.”

In a memo seen by theReporter this week, the university’s director of student affairs stated that “returning students, second year and above are informed that they will not be ac-commodated in the residences during the first semester of 2021/22. This is because apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, residences are going to be renovated from September to November 2021. As such students may seek accommoda-tion elsewhere other than NUL residence.”

However, the decision has not been received well by the students, with some questioning why the renovations were not done during the school’s winter holidays when all students were at home.

One of the students who spoke to this pub-lication on condition of anonymity for fear of victimization felt that the “DSA (Director Stu-dent Affairs) is very inconsiderate taking into account the time they issued this notice. Where should we find the time, money to start afresh and buy furniture for new places off-camp?

nuL students cry foul

What has the management been doing since June because they could have renovated the residences when the school was closed? Ac-commodation outside is already saturated, they are throwing us to the wolves and landlords are going to raise rent prices, because we will take any accommodation available.”

Another student stated that “the timing is just wrong, we have less than two weeks re-maining before we re-open for the first semes-ter, we should have been given at least a one month notice so that we find proper accommo-dation.” According to the university’s academic calendar seen by this publication, classes are expected to resume on September 20.

Despite the management highlighting Cov-id-19 as a major reason to allow only first year students on campus, this publication has it on good authority that the residences will be reno-vated to accommodate some of the AUSC Re-gion 5 Games teams.

Lesotho will host the games in December this year and some of the university’s facilities have been earmarked by government to host the guests.

Asked to shed light on the issue, NUL’s Reg-istrar, Liteboho Maqalika-Lerotholi indicated that, the university can only host 1200 students in its residences.

“Even if we allowed them back again, we

cannot accommodate all of them. We are forced by COVID-19 to accommodate a limited num-ber. We took a decision to take only the first year students because they need to be orientat-ed and be equipped with the learning system. It is also true that we will be hosting some of the AUSC Region 5 Games teams. We agreed to work with the government because this is a national event and NUL is a national institution, we really have to compromise.”

The schools’ academic calendar also notes November 22 as the arrival date of AUSC Re-gion 5 Games teams, and December 3 as the beginning of the games and December 15 as the day for teams’ departures.

OPPORTUNITIES

visit our website: www.thereporter.co.ls/10 September 2021


by KabeLo MoLLo

SUPPORTED BY

I feel like a complain a lot. Like I spend the bulk of my time being displeased by one service provider or another, calling them

out on social media or on my show, or writing columns that leave me disillusioned when I go back over them.

It feels a bit like we’re in purgatory with an incompetent government and a non-existent service industry. Between all of that and our daily Covid related reality I’m finding it all too difficult to be perky. Mind you I’m a guy with a generally very sunny disposition. The glass is definitely half full, and if life throws me lem-ons, please believe I’m cutting them up, get-ting some salt and doing tequila shots, but of late I seem to have run out of tequila.

A couple of cool things happened though. Last week my team at Sky Alpha HD held a marketing and sales symposium. It was an opportunity for us to learn and introspect while also ventilating any issues we might have had. It was an insightful session and while some of the engagements were robust in nature I think everyone left in a better place than where they arrived.

I was a little discouraged after the ses-sion as I wasn’t sure we were hitting the right notes in terms of audience appeal. I’m still not sure we are, and while on Friday I saw that as a failure, today I see it as an opportunity. My principal at Sky Alpha HD is a seasoned broadcaster and manager, Dallas Tee is such a great sounding board that after our inter-

actions I generally am ready to take on the world…

That said, it’s high time the Sky Alpha HD gospel be spread across the length & breadth of the globe, starting with Moshoeshoe’s Kingdom. If you aren’t already, tune in to Sky Alpha HD at any point of the day. Enjoy some cerebral conversation and top tunes. At the next seminar, hopefully we will discuss the deluge of new business we have acquired and how to keep everybody happy!

Another great thing happened. I joined the Sankatana fortified yoghurt team to try

assist in growing the brands presence on digi-tal media. In doing this I began to learn a lot more about the product. My knowledge, or comprehension of science is unbelievably lim-ited. To say I have no firm grasp of even basic scientific theorem is to overstate the matter, but even I can say that Sankatana’s scientific background passes muster.

It is evident that the developers at Liselo Labs have stumbled upon the closest thing to a “cure” to this scourge as can be. I know, that sounds absurd! How can something so major have been discovered between Hilton and Le-

sotho? Yet when you look at the overwhelming positive feedback from people who have re-covered from Covid after taking the yoghurt, it’s difficult to think of this as anything other than that.

I have been so proud to tell people about it because to me it really signifies the brilliance of who are as a people. Not only are the devel-opers of the business people I know, they are also patriotic Basotho who actually heeded the call to come fight off the beast that was Covid. They said “Kholumolumo ha e n’o qeta chaba sena sa Motlotlehi re le teng!” And they meant it. Between the yoghurt and syrup, they have developed, they really are going to defeat this thing, one case at a time.

Finding good news to talk and tweet about is going to be a project I give myself. There’s too much negativity in the world for me to be adding more to it. My wife says there’s noth-ing wrong with knowing what I want and de-manding it. I don’t disagree with her (I haven’t even been married a year yet) but I also know how one can suddenly become a drain on peo-ples psyche with the constant negativity. No-body likes a wet blanket.

While I’m saluting excellence, I must pay tribute to Prof. Mosotho George and his team who have come to the end of their television run. For those unaware Prof George was the host of the brilliantly informative series titled “Tsa Mahlale”. A programme which featured a number of scientific developments by Baso-tho for Basotho. I was always a secret admirer of the show but now that it’s no longer on a rival network I can give it the necessary ap-plause. We need more of that kind of content in this country.

There are a host of young people doing some wonderfully innovative things in terms of content creation and design. I am very much looking forward to seeing them on in-ternational platforms so I can wax lyrical about them, rather than harping on about a dysfunctional government and a stiff private sector!


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Tycoon Series is set to release something different, a folk-tale turned into a film called ‘Moshanyana le Moriana’this

month.Tycoon Series was founded in No-

vember 2015 with the aim to act as a library of Sesotho content. It uses the language which is threatened by extinc-tion.

The founder of Tycoon Series, Makalo Carlos Khutlisi said that ‘Mosh-anyana le Moriana’ was shot at Setibing in the Maseru district.

Khutlisi told theReporter that the folktale is extended with a dialogue in between.

He revealed that the folktale will be completed on September 11. It will be subjected to editing afterwards while it is set to be released on September 30. It will be published on Tycoon Series channel on YouTube for free.

Carlos also said that everything

Tycoon Series spawns films

from script writing to production and re-leasing is made by Tycoon Series and a lady called Candice Tšoana who is responsible for the cast.

“Since we are working on folktales, we will be doing ‘Moshanyan’a Senkatana’after the release of ‘Moshanyana le Moriana.”

Moving on, Carlos said that Tycoon Se-

ries has a lot of Sesotho content, from music videos to Sesotho prayers and games. They are hoping to venture into Sesotho traditional food in the future.

“From 2015 till 2019 the main goal of Tycoon Series was to sell more mer-chandise in order to fund the theatre part of the company. Since then, we have sold so many pieces successfully hence we were able to buy international film gear. It is a great achievement for Tycoon Series.

“In 2016 one of our films was award-ed a certificate at the Lesotho Film Fes-tival. In 2017, SABC radio and TV per-sonality Palo Mokoailane, who is known for his role as ‘Pheko’ SABC soap opera Muvhango, paid us a visit after seeing a trailer of one of our action sequels.

“It was at this very moment that we realised how much we need interna-tional gear to produce for South Afri-can TV stations. He showed us how to submit to them and what the require-ments are,” Carlos made known.

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10 September 2021


Two Lesotho-born heavyweight songbirds, Maleh (‘Malehloka Hlalele) and Leomile (Motsetsela) who happen to be longtime admirers of each other, have

now joined forces to compose a hit song titled Bana ba Khoale.

This is a song about hope and overcoming adversity while leaning on a chosen family. It is a reminder that noth-ing is permanent and that even as people traverse the chal-lenging trails in their lives, there is always joy on the other side.

Songwriter, Leomile says her story and that of Maleh’s are very much echoed in the song hence their managers met up and suggested that they do something together.

“We arranged for a studio date and over two days played around with ideas until we found this something like this song would tell our real,” Leomile said.

The performer told theReporter that the production of the song was facilitated by SAMRO Foundation through their inaugural MCFS grant which supports artists to carry on with their creativity despite the emergence of the global Covid-19 pandemic which has affected arts world-wide.

The song was produced by Ndabo Zulu, engineered by Lwande Makohliso and the process was facilitated by ALT-BLK, a South African collective and home for independent artists. It is based in Johannesburg.

According to Leomile, the privilege of having Nduduzo Makhathini guiding and holding the space for them during the studio recording and post-production phase also con-

tributed to a fine production.Leomile, who refers to herself as an absolute Maleh fan,

expressed her feelings by revealing that the song is her first collaboration with a woman as a featured artist label-ling it as a dream collaboration.

Excitedly, she said having another Sesotho speaking woman to sing and write alongside her is a total blessing.

“Working on the song was fun. There was such good synergy between everyone and we grew immensely from the process. Being an artist of the week on a South Africa radio station is a humbling and gratifying honour.

“It’s lovely to have platforms with such a wide reach to celebrate and grow the music. It means the song can con-nect with more people,” Leomile said.

The song will be released today.

Maleh, Leomile team up

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