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Love your content, but not a huge fan of these sponsorships, especially when you repeat their false claims "there's a waiting list, but if you click on this link you get PRIORITY access..."
THIS is what I originally subscribed to Caspian Report for - geopolitical analysis of lesser known issues around the world, NOT repeated coverage of the most trending and hot button topics in the media. It's been sad seeing this channel move away from that as time went on. Hopefully we see more attention given to stuff like this, as opposed to more bandwagon programming. If people need to hear about those popular topics, they can just turn on the news and listen to the mainstream media.
While investments helped Lesotho a bit you have to keep in mind that for South Africa this option was still incredibly cheap and forced. By interfering in inner affairs of Lesotho ..they made bargening position for Lesotho way worse than it should've been. Also just because South Africa needs water that doesn't make their neigbour obligated to give their water to them. There are natural limits to how much population can be sustained at any given place. We should learn to respect those.
Used to teach someone from Lesotho. The stories he'd tell showed how shockingly low the standard of living was. The LHWP has been such a sad plundering
Lols, I hope you weren't teaching him English. Also, lols, you were shocked by the standard of living in Africa?? This water project is nothing but a good thing for this region. Energy independence for Lesotho as well as water rights payments...a secure water source for South Africa. Plundering? This water project prevents South Africa from annexing Lesotho. "Plundering"...what a revealing comment. I bet you are an environmental zealot...any handprint of man on the land is pollution, or some other cult-like delusion.
Lesotho is bad but Eswatini is worse in my opinion. At least in Lesotho they have a constitution that guarantees certain rights, enshrines democracy and heavily limits the authority of the monarchy (relatively speaking). Their literacy is actually surprisingly high at around 75%. Job opportunities simply don't exist there unfortunately. The corruption of the state and its sheer inability to fight poverty can be seen tenfold in Eswatini. Not only is the poverty worse but the people don't really have many rights and "democracy" in Eswatini is a complete sham. The legislature is filled with the King's relatives and acts as his rubber stamp. In a country of 1.2 million people there are 12 ambulances. (1 per 100,000). Wealth is concentrated in the hands of around 15000 people, including many South Africans and British who profit heavily from the borderline slave labour conditions for workers in the country. The king takes 8% of annual income for 'official expenses' and the security force get 5% , as do the armed forces. As a South African I think it is an absolute disgrace. But I digress.
As a south african I'm very happy to confirm that I couldn't have explained this better. Lesotho and South Africa have a very delicate relationship even going beyond the water projects. You did an amazing job. Congratulations
You absolutely killed it with this one man. Its very rare seeing such high quality content discussing this topic on RUclips. The geopolitics of South Africa (my home country) and Lesotho (my family ancestral home) are an interesting case study showing the political theatre of Southern Africa. Complete fire🔥🔥
@@dr.floridaman4805 I'd argue Freddie Mercury, but truth be told the people responsible for single payer access health care (something US is still struggling to achieve despite being the richest country in the world) in Rwanda are way up there.
I'm sure you bearly knew anything about Lesotho other then where it was on a map and it's name. As I sure haven't. All my years living in sa, this is the first thing iv come across anything about then
How refreshing to watch something economically interesting, rather unbiased and well researched from an African country. I'm sure many people learned something new about the world, which they otherwise wouldn't. This is why I'm a long time subscriber!
I’m a South African, and worked for one of the companies that did prepatory work for the next main phase, which is about to start. This video is surprisingly well done and accurate. Lesotho is a truly beautiful kingdom. SA’s population would not survive without its water and the scheme is quite controversial because it is widely known to the people of Lesotho (based on my interaction with locals) as to how it was born.
Why does not South Africa offer Lesotho and Eswatini to be annexed or just merged into just one country ? They are after all surrounded territorial by South Africa Plus are English speaking neighboring countries/ nations
@@agent9809 both have pretty interesting histories which you should check out. my controversial opinion would be that they are the only 2 kingdoms that survived in what is now south africa - there should've been other independent countries like them as well (the Zulu Kingdom/Tswanaland/a type of unified Xhosa kingdom)
@@lm_b5080 That's fair, funnily enough the apartheid government was sort of stating to do that with the homelands. I doubt a unified Zulu Xhosa kingdom would have worked, I know they're the most similar, but I don't really see them playing nicely. Then again South Africa is a much bigger melting pot.
@@Me63422 its pretty crazy how far-reaching the decisions of leaders can be. The Zulu king/xhosa leaders prob could've negotiated territory sovereignty with the British at some point; and the history of our country would've been something entirely different
This is an amazing video. As someone that is from Lesotho and lives here, I can tell you, you absolutely nailed this! Nailed it! I had no idea that the payments are not subject to inflation! This is unbelievable! Construction on the Polihali dam has begun and things are going smoothly. I hope things change so that the basotho people can enjoy the benefits of this water in the long run.
I highly doubt anything will upon the completion of the Polihali dam. The corruption amongst the government officials is mind-blowing. If left unchecked, the situation might worsen for Basotho, only a select few will benefit. The rest will be forced to make due with scraps.
there is research by Clive Vinti, a PhD candidate in Environmental Law. He investigates how that treaty has enabled South Africa to take over Lesotho's water resources. he describes that treaty as "HYDROCOLONISATION." Now I can understand why? the price of water that we sell to South Africa is below the market value.
@@joelmotsoahaemotsoahae9541this political leaders are such cowards and all they care about is enrichment of their own pockets but don't care about us at all..how can they not include inflation in the sale of water or at least include a clause that allows for an amendment should there be a need but it's like their level of thinking is way shocking hence why RSA took advantage of that situation I mean I don't blame them. The only wise leader Lesotho ever had was king Moshoeshoe who truly cared for his people and instead of his own pockets
Thank you for making this video. My parents are from Lesotho & my most of my family is still there. It breaks my heart to see what has been done to such a great nation.
@@thari_za Honestly, the only difference between Sotho and Tswana is the 'g' & 'h' sounds. e.g. Khosi-Kgosi or Katleho-Katlego. Any Sotho could easily hold a conversation with a Tswana.
So glad you covered these countries down on the southern tip of Africa! Never really knew this about Lesotho and SA, even as a native South African. Really love your work - always interesting, detailed and unbiased in analysis. 👌🏼
It is always the most vulnerable ones (poor citizens, certain social groups, etc) that suffer when people at the top are making arrangements. Africa, America, Asia, Europe - no place is safe from this injustice.
This one was fascinating. I'm embarrassed to say that I only ever knew about Lesotho from the Risk board. Would love more videos on this topic in the future.
I am South African, and learnt a lot from this video. Our media is silent about this issue. In fact, the LHWP is widely construed as a virtuous and mutually beneficial economic endeavor. The toll of climate change has already hit the entire region very hard. Cape Town approach day zero, when all its water sources were meant to run dry. It narrowly avoided it. In a province just South West of Lesotho, there has been a drought for close to a decade now and dams have run dry. These are just two examples, which lead me to think that the country will become ever more reliant on Lesotho for water.
Functionally Lesotho is already economically and socially a part of South Africa. The majority of its population lives and works in South Africa as migrant labourers. Economically its almost totally dependent on South Africa via the Southern African Customs Union for its imports and exports(the older customs union in the world by the way).
He missed the maluti trout fish farms that now exist as a result of these dams. The type of trout that has a very high demand over the world. In SA you will primarily find it from Woolworths. He also missed the role these dams play tourism wise. We just need proper leadership to fully harness the potential all these projects have. Hopefully at the end of the Polihali dam construction we will not need to buy any electricity from eskom. But again, too much corruption in these streets.
Interesting! I think the tourism one is more a liability, not just because of how much it swings and is therefore unreliable as a source of income, but also because (like in Portugal) property values skyrocket as hotels get built and even worse real-estate speculation takes place, so the local people can't live where the jobs are. On top of that the country gets transformed into a glorified hotel+themepark where the actual citizens become servants in their own country to the rich tourists.
@@whtfl imo. I think this would be a great opportunity not just for Basotho In Lesotho but for Lesotho and South Africa. There are great opportunities in both countries but I’d say being SA’s 10 province bears more opportunities.
Thanks for the content. Please consider doing an insert regarding the BRICS nations. In keeping with the theme of what is happening in Ukraine, it would be worthwhile illuminating the relationship between South Africa and Russia. Topics surrounding food security and oil exports would be of special interest.
It’s always been an open secret that Lesotho is our water source! Especially for the basin and Northern regions of SA. Absolutely love the videos you make!
"The people reaping the benefits are not the same as those bearing the costs" - This made me emotional. Some people who were relocated from their homes to make way for the dams now live in abject poverty and cannot even afford basics such as a loaf of bread, clean water, school fees etc.
Thank you so much man Been with you for 5 yrs maybe more I can’t remember Always always great content that aims to be non bias and I appreciate your work just as much as the day I found your channel Bless you on your side of the planet
Lesotho has abundant water resources that exceed requirements for possible future irrigation projects and development. The total water consumption in Lesotho is about 2m³/s, while the total availability is about 150m³/s. - these are really great potentials...
I also bet the lesser Drakensbergen highlands in Swaziland will phase the same type of problems. I've had the pleasure of visiting all 3 countries and have seen how terrible the locals are doing and how kind and hospitable they are. This is terrible reforestation and rewilding is needed to keep the highlands of Drakensbergen wet and temperate and the lower areas livable.
South Africa uses a policy similar to nuclear deterrence for Lesotho (the military tactic of Andre Bauffre). Basically the electricity is downstream in SA. If they turn of the taps, we turn of their electricity. In 1998 when there was a military coup that wanted to take control of the water, Nelson Mandela sent in the army and "convinced" them to change their policy.
@@charlesscott4722 no president decides alone, but he was consulted and gave his approval. South Africa mostly dictates the SADC interventions with Botswana sometimes playing a leading role. Getting regional approval was a more sensible approach. You are correct about the USA, for some reason I had Mozambique in my head, but I do remember him being out of the country.
I'm doing a group project in my masters on small states ability to leverage their assets to gain autonomy. The use of fresh water in this case a perfect example of how we should begin to start studying small state agency. Great video!
I love how you did a video on Southern Africa. Specifically with Lesotho and South Africa. You should do a video in the recent South Africa Water Crisis if you have a chance and how it could be an example of future drought in other more developed countries.
THIS is what I originally subscribed to Caspian Report for - geopolitical analysis of lesser known issues around the world, NOT repeated (and somewhat repetitive) coverage of the most trending and hot button topics in the media. It's been sad seeing this channel move away from that as time went on. Hopefully we see more attention given to stuff like this, as opposed to more bandwagon programming. If people need to hear about those popular topics, they can just turn on the news and get an earful (and then some) from the mainstream media.
@M3X dude the Ukraine war is the most important geopolitically incident since the fall of the USSR and it's an unfolding event with lots of fake news going on. I do like it when he does videos on other topics ofc I would normally prefer that but you have to be a contrarian to not think the Ukraine war warrants multiple videos.
Great video! Your videos are always so well-researched and this one was no different. African geopolitics are interesting; and it makes me happy to see videos about Africa on quality platforms like the CaspianReport. Although I am quite new to RUclips, I hope that one day my own channel will reach your level and quality of video-making. Keep up the good work! Love from South Africa 🇿🇦
I lived in South Africa for 30 years (1990 to 2020). I drank Lesotho's water. This project was a life saver; we all remember low levels of the Vaal Dam. Few annoying things: Lesotho's water does not reach Cape Town: you frequently show images of Cape Town. Spelling mistake at 9:59 of Gautang --> Gauteng. Timestamp 10:06. According to my knowledge, Limpopo doesn't use Lesotho's water. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the Lesotho's water only reaches the Vaal Dam. Mistake at 9:28 the road scene. It is mirrored. South Africa and Lesotho drive on the LEFT. Also, that road is probably from South Africa Timestamp 15:03 That is Sani Pass with 100% certanty. I drove up and it personally twice. This section is absolutely stunning, but is not in Lesotho. It lies between the two border checkpoints.
I really love this video. You should do more videos on these type of subjects. The most interesting to me is how nations have these relations with each other based on geographic differences.
Lesotho was a major gainer from America's African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) becoming a major textile exporter. Unfortunately that sector was decimated in 2008 due to low demand and with higher competition since its never really recovered.
It is good to see content covering issues and situations in Southern Africa as a South African myself. Thank you Shirvan. South Africa has a lot of potential to be a major global player and a leading nation on the continent.
Excellent and informative video! I gain so much from this channel. As a South African, I can say that you really did a great job! Also agree with other comments: please do a video on BRICS and where it is going
Look at that! I've travelled through that country extensively, and have seen the system being built over the years, from nothing to running over. And yes, South Africa is going backwards.
The people of South Africa are trying so hard to keep the country on track, but the ANC led government and its rampant corruption are absolutely tearing everything apart.
@@PluvioZA we had infrastructure. We had possibilities of expansion. On the dams and power. We had trains that where actually a viable and safe option. We had stocks of oil saved up, we had a strong currency( not necessarily good for a export nation like sa) But now escom can barely Power us, having water shortages every 5 years lol what trains. The only thing we got that is good is roads.
4:33 Correct me if I’m wrong but based on the clothes, the person in this stock video might be Maasai and not Basotho. Two pretty different cultures from different parts of Africa. Yes there’s probably not a lot of available stock footage but still…
He looks like the basotho I have seen while hiking in the drakensburg (in towns and urban areas they dont dress like that much), they wear blankets like that when herding in the mountains. If you want to nitpick there is a lot of footage of capetown which does not benefit from the Lesotho highland water project, but I am not here to look at stock footage its the content of message thats very relevent and well researched.
Thanks bro for this video. I've been waiting for a video involving SA for a long time. I've subscribed to your channel years ago. Thank you for the in depth analysis. I live the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan area and we receive most of our water from the orange River which has its origins in Lesotho
Great report CaspianReport, I think it's important to note that the water would still end up in SA, just not on the side we need it, hence we've re-directed it, but since Lesotho is completely surrounded by SA, all its rivers eventually flow into SA.
Dutch and afrikaans have great g's, dont they? The only language with funnier g's is the variety of Galician (spoken in the part of Spain directly north of Portugal) that pronounces them like Arabic emphatic/pharyngeal h's
Wow. Lesotho is indeed the kingdom in the sky. It is like Switzerland. The concerns of misuse of the riparian land areas can be addressed creatively. The drying up and/or submerging of arable land can be reversed by deliberate irrigation and reclamation respectively.
Lesotho has abundant water resources that exceed requirements for possible future irrigation projects and development. The total water consumption in Lesotho is about 2m³/s, while the total availability is about 150m³/s. - these are really great potentials...
Nice video. Lesotho is a vasal state of South Africa. Nothing more, nothing less. Like you said, all it has is water to bargain with. We can romanticise the struggles as much as possible it doesn't change the fact that the country is geopolitical insignificant and heavily reliant on South Africa for everything from fuel to cheese.
@@kamvazenani4153 No it's not sad South Africa just needs to mature and understand we need to treat our neighbours as citizens as they fall under our orbit .
South African here, one of the huge issues is the government of South Africa does not collect payment for services from low income areas. They are not selling a lot of the water they buy.
This presentation was very illuminating. I knew that within South Africa there were several 'independent' "Bantu" states, but with what little I knew I assumed that SA did not want governance of them, because they were worthless economically, or else thought they were created as 'Potemkin villages' for world opinion. But to think that this tiny kingdom is the aquifer for so much of the region, and to think of how catastrophic relations with SA have been for Lesotho, it boggles the mind. It seems that few in Lesotho have benefited from modernization, with the exception of the well-connected.
1. The Highlands Water Project starter in started in the early 80’s, late 70’s…… 2.Lesotho puts out bigger Diamonds than Botswana…. 3. At 4:28 - 4:34 those are not Basotho Villages nor Basotho…. that is misrepresentation 4. Lesotho has always been an independent Monarchy before the arrival of settlers. 5. At 5:05 that is not Pretoria (The Capital City of SA), Pretoria doesn’t have a coast line, its very much inland. So again, misrepresentation. 6. The Highlands Project consists of 5 Phases; Katse, Muela, Mohale, Metolong, Polihali, including the tunnels and low land dams. 7. At 10:47 that’s a picture of Boekaap Cape Town, nothing to do with Lesotho 8. At 14:28 that is GreenPoint in Cape Town 9. The issue of royalties has been under review since 2017… Your stock image is misleading. I’d suggested getting in Contact with people such as Prof Sean Maliehe (Author of Basothos Economic History from 1500’s till 2015)…. There is a not of misinformation on this video. The historical background story has loopholes. I’d also advice getting in touch with the LHDA (Lesotho Highlands Development Authority) your figures are also a bit off. A great attempt but there are gross inconsistencies…. There is not none single image of Lesotho in your video…. There are plenty of Videographers that would gladly supply you with stock footage in MASERU (not MAZURU)……
Bless my king,am proud to have people like you around here...am not sure if your sotho or not but they are trying to mislead the world about us and to keep us divided while they got a little information about us.
Absolute amazing video, with a few small weird things but nothing that detracts from the information. Love this. thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!! love from South Africa
According to population pyramid, Lesotho's birth rate made quite a jump in the past 5 years. I wonder what's the reason for that. After all, you'd expect such a country knowing about the limitations of its nature given capacities to facilitate a stable demography. As things are going, they will have to turn one valley after another into a water filled basin, robbing itself from self-sufficiency in other areas like food. That's not a good plan, if things remain on the current trajectory,
They will move to South Africa. South Africa has more Basotho than Lesotho. The same applies to Swazis and Tswanas. These are European borders between the Boers, British, Portuguese and Germans.
@@louvendran7273 The borders of Lesotho held up pretty well, if you ask me. After all, they've managed to thwart off all European advances. That's worth something.
Its a sad fact that the more impoverished and underdeveloped a country is, the higher its fertility rate. You can see this everywhere. Both between countries and even within them. Poverty encourages higher population growth rates. Or rather, development encourages lower birthrates. Historically birthrate has always been high as has death rate with famine and disease keeping the population in check. Its better medicine and agricultural yield that upsets the balance and allows for explosive growth. Its economic development and education that lowers birth rate and restore stability. If that latter never happens, then it will be only a matter of time before population outstrips supply and famine and disease act to restore the balance by increasing the death rate once again.
I think we can all agree that as long as the people on both sides benefit from the dams, they are a good thing... it's all about proper calibration...from the information in the video I'd say that the prices should take the inflation into account which they currently don't, this could be renegotiated, so in the end, some political compromise which is feasible. One more thing is better organization of the projects and redistribution of the profit and the fair competition for construction companies to join on the project if they match for the requirements. This is a lot harder and I can't think of way to implement it. But when thinking about this in the context of climate change and long-term durability....I have a feeling more dams don't look like a good idea, but without proper analysis, who can say
You have empathy and integrity, that's why. Rare characteristics in our days. So many people will rationalise 'anything' so long as it suits their purposes.
If Lesotho demanded that unskilled laborers for the dams had to solely be drawn from the local population then many of the economic woes would've been soothed, but for some reason this didn't happen. Such a simple decision would see many citizens of Lesotho uplifted economically; however, most of the labor seems to be outsources to SA migrant workers which just seems foolish to me. Hard to feel sorry for them when the way forward is so clear.
About the annexation thing: South Africa had no interest because Lesotho was a stable and working "Bantustan". Where was no reason to destroy what they advertised as the future for blacks in South Africa.
I don’t know if The World Court works in civil cases (or works @ all) but with enough PR/visibility, Lesotho might be able to force a semi-reasonable re-write of the contract. Whatever happens it sounds ripe for corruption unless any and all negotiations are kept in the open.
As always, a great video about an almost unknown topic among the rivalries of superpowers. I would also point that the graphics of the rivers and reservoirs was a bit confusing. I believe better could have been done. About the project there is also another big problem for Lesotho: soil erosion. With climate change and the overgrazing of the few pastures left the soil is heavily eroding. This means enormous quantities of sediments are running through the valleys and filling the reservoirs. If the reservoirs end up with more sediments than water itself, than this supposedly win-win project is condemned to failure, bringing benefits but lots of damage. The future seems uncertain for Lesotho, but this strategic nation can have a key role in the future. South Africa seems increasingly unstable. If we see in the next decades ethnic separatism, especially among the lowland Basotho, the Kingdom of the Sky could expand it’s borders, free itself from a semi-protectorate status and gain a new influence in the region. However History plays, lets hope Peace prevails and the people remain unharmed.
The problem with that is that there is no real interest in Breaking up SA among Racial lines, nor is there any real or feasible way to do that. What most maps don't show, is although certain ethnicities are the "majority" in certain provinces, that "majority" is only at around 40-60% at best, with the other 40-60% being made up by a mixture of all the other ethnicities, There are no true "ethnic lines of divide" in SA, as every ethnicity moved around and intermingled so much post-Apartheid, that a separation along ethnic lines literally isn't possible or feasible. And on top of that, Lesotho has a reasonably strong movement in it to make it SA's 10th province. As things currently stand, there's a better chance of SA just having a rough decade while the ANC goes completely out of power, and then admitting both eSwatini and Lesotho as 10 and 11th provinces, than there is for SA to break up along ethnic lines
Unfortunately, Lesotho can't do anything about it and they know it. If they take away our access to their water, then we'd take away their physical access to the international market. All their imports & exports can only move through SA territory first before reaching their destinations. With regards to annexation though, I doubt we'd ever force them. Infact, many SAns already consider Lesotho to be the unofficial 10th province. We share the same culture and history. Reunification is only a matter of when, but eish, with African politicians, holding on to power is more important than life itself.
He WAS a complete badass. He pretty much created the whole Basotho nation through diplomacy and warfare. He played an integral role in his people surviving the Zulu caused Difaqane (crushing, scattering) also known as the Mefecana or Time of Troubles which uprooted many African tribes and led to untold deaths. Its why the Basotho retreated to the Mountain Fortress that acted as their safe refuge throughout their entire history.
@@TheJayjayforce That's amazing. Know any other resources on his life or is that just stuff you osmosed over time? I love learning about important African figures because western education does such a massive disservice to the entire continent, Africa seems to only exist as a victim in our education system which, while obviously true, ignores all the great works of African groups and ignores their agency.
@@Tinil0 Unfortunately not. I'm sure there is stuff out there, but what I know of him I've mostly picked up from different places over time. In South Africa and the world more generally he (and a lot of other stuff in Southern Africa) tends to get overlooked in favour of Shaka Zulu. Which to be fair, he was a major figure oft compared to people like Alexandra the Great. Also because he fought the British and Boers alone and rejected Europeans (Moshoeshoe I allied with Europeans to fight other Europeans) and the Zulus are the largest and most influential tribe in SA today. This also tends to result in Shaka being "sanitized" a bit somewhat. Talking more about things like his military achievements and cultural legacy and not about things like him ordering the death of pregnant women and their husbands after his mothers death. He is also said to have ordered over 7000 to be executed for not being sufficiently grief stricken and for the mothers of calf's to be killed so that they too would know his pain. Shaka is a bit of a controversial figure in SA with some (mostly Zulus) near worshiping him and others (mostly non-Zulus) pointing out his faults. I know for Shaka there was a very influential dramatic series made about him in the 1980s and that a new movie about him is being made. I hope Moshoeshoe I also gets that at some point. Though that would naturally have to paint Shaka as more of an antagonist character given his role as an aggressive military conqueror. Another interesting group that's often overlooked in SA is the Griqua. Mixed descendants of native KhoiKhoi and Dutch colonists. They had a more European culture and sometimes got guns and money gifted to them from their fathers. They also left the Cape like the Boers and set up their own short-lived independent frontier states. They didn't last long, but many places still bare their name to this day.
As a South African, I had no idea of any of this, so I appreciate the education. I really know so little about our neighbours. Also, it is funny to me how many clips are shown of Cape Town, which has so little relation to the content of this video.
I believe you have some historical facts wrong. The Basotho were chased into the mountains of Lesotho not by the Europeans , but by the Ndebele / Zulu people's and the biggest friction with the Europeans was initially with the Xhosa and then significantly with the Zulu .. not the Basotho who were in general in good relations with the Europeans .. That's how I know the history broadly , but I am not an expert
The Sotho people's , including the Basotho from Lesotho is part of a different group from the Ndebele , Zulu and Xhosa , whom are more culturally related to each other .
i grew up in the foothills of the drakensberg and i do believe though that there was a lot of friction with the boer settlers who were moving up into the free state. its a beautiful country with great people
Firstly.ndebele had no issue with the sotho.ndebele ppl are not even found in Sotho dominated areas.there was Sotho -zulu conflicts,but the results of this was northern migration of Lozi( a Sotho speaking tribe) who fled the area and went as far both as Malawi .and are still present today. Sotho ppl were all under the leadership of one all powerful leader.while moshoeshoe was very prominent he didn't have authority of all Sotho speaking people.thats why you have Sotho ppl of Lesotho and Sotho ppl of Lesotho who were followers of moshoeshoe. Afrikaner encroachment was the one of the reasons why moshoeshoe fled to the mountains. Afrikaner policies also reserved 97 percent of the land in the free state for themselves.
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THIS is what I originally subscribed to Caspian Report for - geopolitical analysis of lesser known issues around the world, NOT repeated coverage of the most trending and hot button topics in the media. It's been sad seeing this channel move away from that as time went on. Hopefully we see more attention given to stuff like this, as opposed to more bandwagon programming. If people need to hear about those popular topics, they can just turn on the news and listen to the mainstream media.
While investments helped Lesotho a bit you have to keep in mind that for South Africa this option was still incredibly cheap and forced. By interfering in inner affairs of Lesotho ..they made bargening position for Lesotho way worse than it should've been. Also just because South Africa needs water that doesn't make their neigbour obligated to give their water to them. There are natural limits to how much population can be sustained at any given place. We should learn to respect those.
Used to teach someone from Lesotho. The stories he'd tell showed how shockingly low the standard of living was. The LHWP has been such a sad plundering
Lols, I hope you weren't teaching him English. Also, lols, you were shocked by the standard of living in Africa?? This water project is nothing but a good thing for this region. Energy independence for Lesotho as well as water rights payments...a secure water source for South Africa. Plundering? This water project prevents South Africa from annexing Lesotho. "Plundering"...what a revealing comment. I bet you are an environmental zealot...any handprint of man on the land is pollution, or some other cult-like delusion.
Hey Mr Mitchell, Thanks for the Jordies vid
Lesotho is bad but Eswatini is worse in my opinion. At least in Lesotho they have a constitution that guarantees certain rights, enshrines democracy and heavily limits the authority of the monarchy (relatively speaking). Their literacy is actually surprisingly high at around 75%. Job opportunities simply don't exist there unfortunately. The corruption of the state and its sheer inability to fight poverty can be seen tenfold in Eswatini. Not only is the poverty worse but the people don't really have many rights and "democracy" in Eswatini is a complete sham. The legislature is filled with the King's relatives and acts as his rubber stamp.
In a country of 1.2 million people there are 12 ambulances. (1 per 100,000). Wealth is concentrated in the hands of around 15000 people, including many South Africans and British who profit heavily from the borderline slave labour conditions for workers in the country. The king takes 8% of annual income for 'official expenses' and the security force get 5% , as do the armed forces.
As a South African I think it is an absolute disgrace. But I digress.
How is this any different from any of the garbage govts on this continent
@@ZemanTheMighty You got a link i can watch?
I'd actually like to watch someone talk about that for 30 minutes.
As a south african I'm very happy to confirm that I couldn't have explained this better. Lesotho and South Africa have a very delicate relationship even going beyond the water projects. You did an amazing job. Congratulations
SA is exploiting that tiny country. 8 dams my guy? 8 dams?! Well dayum!
Lesotho is being exploited by South Africa. And my biggest fear is war between these two nations in the future.
@@tebohosefali173 Yes true, it would affect many Boere
@@tebohosefali173you think Lesotho would want war with south Africa.a country that has a population that is 30 times larger
Despite everything, I love your country dearly.
Love from Rotterdam
"The people reaping the benefits are not the same as those bearing the costs" is a reoccurring problem around the world.
"Privatise profits, socialize losses."
You absolutely killed it with this one man. Its very rare seeing such high quality content discussing this topic on RUclips. The geopolitics of South Africa (my home country) and Lesotho (my family ancestral home) are an interesting case study showing the political theatre of Southern Africa.
Complete fire🔥🔥
Elon musk is the greatest African to ever be born.
@@dr.floridaman4805 I'd argue Freddie Mercury, but truth be told the people responsible for single payer access health care (something US is still struggling to achieve despite being the richest country in the world) in Rwanda are way up there.
@@dr.floridaman4805 challenge excepted
Hey I also live in South Africa
Indeed, would love to see him to do more in the region.
Used to live in South Africa. Quite interesting to see how I overlooked the value of Lesotho to South Africa and its geopolitics.
I'm sure you bearly knew anything about Lesotho other then where it was on a map and it's name. As I sure haven't. All my years living in sa, this is the first thing iv come across anything about then
Ja...we just take them for granted. Very sad.
To be fair, if it wasn't for their water they'd be as irrelevant as Eswatini.
@@Afrologist bruuuuu😂 that's such a violation
@@spookypants9621 Sorry, I'm just being real fam, in geopolitics being irrelevant is sometimes a good thing 👀
How refreshing to watch something economically interesting, rather unbiased and well researched from an African country. I'm sure many people learned something new about the world, which they otherwise wouldn't. This is why I'm a long time subscriber!
I’m a South African, and worked for one of the companies that did prepatory work for the next main phase, which is about to start. This video is surprisingly well done and accurate. Lesotho is a truly beautiful kingdom. SA’s population would not survive without its water and the scheme is quite controversial because it is widely known to the people of Lesotho (based on my interaction with locals) as to how it was born.
Why does not South Africa offer Lesotho and Eswatini to be annexed or just merged into just one country ? They are after all surrounded territorial by South Africa Plus are English speaking neighboring countries/ nations
@@agent9809 I agree.It would be to everyone's benefit.
@@agent9809 both have pretty interesting histories which you should check out. my controversial opinion would be that they are the only 2 kingdoms that survived in what is now south africa - there should've been other independent countries like them as well (the Zulu Kingdom/Tswanaland/a type of unified Xhosa kingdom)
@@lm_b5080 That's fair, funnily enough the apartheid government was sort of stating to do that with the homelands. I doubt a unified Zulu Xhosa kingdom would have worked, I know they're the most similar, but I don't really see them playing nicely. Then again South Africa is a much bigger melting pot.
@@Me63422 its pretty crazy how far-reaching the decisions of leaders can be. The Zulu king/xhosa leaders prob could've negotiated territory sovereignty with the British at some point; and the history of our country would've been something entirely different
Thank you Caspian for talking about Africa.
Those Mountains, Rivers, Plateus, Streams are My Home. Haaeso Lesotho 🇱🇸❤️✊🏿😀
Mxm😑 hake nahana high school haona geography teacher e ile ya itlama ka this history😂
This is an amazing video. As someone that is from Lesotho and lives here, I can tell you, you absolutely nailed this! Nailed it! I had no idea that the payments are not subject to inflation! This is unbelievable! Construction on the Polihali dam has begun and things are going smoothly. I hope things change so that the basotho people can enjoy the benefits of this water in the long run.
maybe try speaking to your local government and educate community members to get involved.
I highly doubt anything will upon the completion of the Polihali dam. The corruption amongst the government officials is mind-blowing. If left unchecked, the situation might worsen for Basotho, only a select few will benefit. The rest will be forced to make due with scraps.
there is research by Clive Vinti, a PhD candidate in Environmental Law. He investigates how that treaty has enabled South Africa to take over Lesotho's water resources. he describes that treaty as "HYDROCOLONISATION." Now I can understand why? the price of water that we sell to South Africa is below the market value.
@@joelmotsoahaemotsoahae9541this political leaders are such cowards and all they care about is enrichment of their own pockets but don't care about us at all..how can they not include inflation in the sale of water or at least include a clause that allows for an amendment should there be a need but it's like their level of thinking is way shocking hence why RSA took advantage of that situation I mean I don't blame them. The only wise leader Lesotho ever had was king Moshoeshoe who truly cared for his people and instead of his own pockets
Thank you for making this video. My parents are from Lesotho & my most of my family is still there. It breaks my heart to see what has been done to such a great nation.
CaspianReport's pronunciation of Sotho names and place is not that bad🙌🏾
Maseru was wild, but the rest seemed good
Gow-teng though ...
I just came here for this comment!
To be fair Gauteng is Tswana not Sotho😂
@@thari_za Honestly, the only difference between Sotho and Tswana is the 'g' & 'h' sounds. e.g. Khosi-Kgosi or Katleho-Katlego. Any Sotho could easily hold a conversation with a Tswana.
Look at that, I'm 1st here. And I am actually in Lesotho right now. 🇱🇸🇱🇸🇱🇸
Me 2
Lesser known topics like these are great. Probably some of my favorite videos
So glad you covered these countries down on the southern tip of Africa! Never really knew this about Lesotho and SA, even as a native South African. Really love your work - always interesting, detailed and unbiased in analysis. 👌🏼
It is always the most vulnerable ones (poor citizens, certain social groups, etc) that suffer when people at the top are making arrangements. Africa, America, Asia, Europe - no place is safe from this injustice.
As a South African, I had no idea about any of this. Thanks for the great video!
Same. Like when do qe speak about Lesotho
It's propaganda, don't fall for it. Big Water is funding this whole thing
This one was fascinating. I'm embarrassed to say that I only ever knew about Lesotho from the Risk board. Would love more videos on this topic in the future.
I am South African, and learnt a lot from this video. Our media is silent about this issue. In fact, the LHWP is widely construed as a virtuous and mutually beneficial economic endeavor. The toll of climate change has already hit the entire region very hard. Cape Town approach day zero, when all its water sources were meant to run dry. It narrowly avoided it. In a province just South West of Lesotho, there has been a drought for close to a decade now and dams have run dry. These are just two examples, which lead me to think that the country will become ever more reliant on Lesotho for water.
climate change is a hoax though
Until Lesotho runs dry too…
Functionally Lesotho is already economically and socially a part of South Africa. The majority of its population lives and works in South Africa as migrant labourers. Economically its almost totally dependent on South Africa via the Southern African Customs Union for its imports and exports(the older customs union in the world by the way).
I wouldn't be so sure about "majority"
He missed the maluti trout fish farms that now exist as a result of these dams. The type of trout that has a very high demand over the world. In SA you will primarily find it from Woolworths. He also missed the role these dams play tourism wise. We just need proper leadership to fully harness the potential all these projects have. Hopefully at the end of the Polihali dam construction we will not need to buy any electricity from eskom. But again, too much corruption in these streets.
Interesting! I think the tourism one is more a liability, not just because of how much it swings and is therefore unreliable as a source of income, but also because (like in Portugal) property values skyrocket as hotels get built and even worse real-estate speculation takes place, so the local people can't live where the jobs are. On top of that the country gets transformed into a glorified hotel+themepark where the actual citizens become servants in their own country to the rich tourists.
@@richardtbohnen5070 Nailed it
@@richardtbohnen5070 💯 Sad sad reality!
I’m from Lesotho 🇱🇸 and this is incredible. Spot on
@@whtfl imo. I think this would be a great opportunity not just for Basotho In Lesotho but for Lesotho and South Africa. There are great opportunities in both countries but I’d say being SA’s 10 province bears more opportunities.
@@vuhgie OK. One day it will happen. But only if both countries agree to it.
Thanks for the content. Please consider doing an insert regarding the BRICS nations. In keeping with the theme of what is happening in Ukraine, it would be worthwhile illuminating the relationship between South Africa and Russia. Topics surrounding food security and oil exports would be of special interest.
Bump
Up
There is new proposal in BRICS about expanding the association by admitting new members. CR might make video on that.
Bump
Yes super interesting.
It’s always been an open secret that Lesotho is our water source! Especially for the basin and Northern regions of SA.
Absolutely love the videos you make!
I am a Mosotho, ask me something and I will answer. This was well researched but more needs to be done!
Hi, so nice to meet you. Do u think it would help to guive mountanous land (with the info and financing tech to farm and graize on it) would help?
Has Lesotho ever considering to join South Africa?
how do you see South Africa?
How's the living standard there?
@@rizkifauzi7048 Not since the 1800s. Actually let me correct that, NO! Not since the 1800s and definetly not now!
"The people reaping the benefits are not the same as those bearing the costs" - This made me emotional. Some people who were relocated from their homes to make way for the dams now live in abject poverty and cannot even afford basics such as a loaf of bread, clean water, school fees etc.
One very significant mineral deposit that you did not mention, is DIAMONDS.
Thank you for turning your attention to Lesotho.
I didn't realise South Africa had such a spread of industrial sectors. Kudos to 🇿🇦🇱🇸
africa's most industrialized economy
Thank you so much man
Been with you for 5 yrs maybe more I can’t remember
Always always great content that aims to be non bias and I appreciate your work just as much as the day I found your channel
Bless you on your side of the planet
Lesotho has abundant water resources that exceed requirements for possible future irrigation projects and development. The total water consumption in Lesotho is about 2m³/s, while the total availability is about 150m³/s. - these are really great potentials...
I also bet the lesser Drakensbergen highlands in Swaziland will phase the same type of problems. I've had the pleasure of visiting all 3 countries and have seen how terrible the locals are doing and how kind and hospitable they are. This is terrible reforestation and rewilding is needed to keep the highlands of Drakensbergen wet and temperate and the lower areas livable.
Lesotho must be a tough bunch to be able to exist as a landlock sovereign kingdom for so long. 💪
Nah African countries hardly have megalomaniac conquerors
As usual, an absolutely incredible video. One of the absolute best channels for geopolitics.
I’ve been waiting for a video involving South Africa wow thank you 🇿🇦
Me too bra. I thought he would tackle the political landscape and the influence we on Southern Africa but this is also good content I'm very happy
South Africa uses a policy similar to nuclear deterrence for Lesotho (the military tactic of Andre Bauffre). Basically the electricity is downstream in SA.
If they turn of the taps, we turn of their electricity.
In 1998 when there was a military coup that wanted to take control of the water, Nelson Mandela sent in the army and "convinced" them to change their policy.
No stop lying Mandela sent the troops coz there was a Coup as u said and the other SADC leaders convinced him to intervene
It was a SADC mission, not Nelson Mandela's decision alone. Botswana also sent its military
@@charlesscott4722 Mandela approved it. In fact he was in Mozambique at the time and our acting president was Buthelezi.
@@hugo_kruger Mandela was in USA, not Mozambique. My point is that it was a SADC operation, he didn't decide alone
@@charlesscott4722 no president decides alone, but he was consulted and gave his approval. South Africa mostly dictates the SADC interventions with Botswana sometimes playing a leading role. Getting regional approval was a more sensible approach.
You are correct about the USA, for some reason I had Mozambique in my head, but I do remember him being out of the country.
Hello from South Africa
I'm doing a group project in my masters on small states ability to leverage their assets to gain autonomy. The use of fresh water in this case a perfect example of how we should begin to start studying small state agency. Great video!
I love these videos on parts of the world that are usually overlooked, excellent as always!
i reckon if you live in these parts they really aren't overlooked - all depends on the media you consume & how your google algorithm looks to feed you
I'm glad this issue is covered. Would love to see a detailed well researched video on water issues between Pakistan and India.
I love how you did a video on Southern Africa. Specifically with Lesotho and South Africa. You should do a video in the recent South Africa Water Crisis if you have a chance and how it could be an example of future drought in other more developed countries.
“In the damn basket” lol
THIS is what I originally subscribed to Caspian Report for - geopolitical analysis of lesser known issues around the world, NOT repeated (and somewhat repetitive) coverage of the most trending and hot button topics in the media. It's been sad seeing this channel move away from that as time went on. Hopefully we see more attention given to stuff like this, as opposed to more bandwagon programming. If people need to hear about those popular topics, they can just turn on the news and get an earful (and then some) from the mainstream media.
Me too.
@M3X tbf Ukraine is extremely important. It affects the whole world and is the most deadly conflict going on right now in terms of deaths a day.
@M3X IPEF is not video worthy tbh.
@M3X dude the Ukraine war is the most important geopolitically incident since the fall of the USSR and it's an unfolding event with lots of fake news going on. I do like it when he does videos on other topics ofc I would normally prefer that but you have to be a contrarian to not think the Ukraine war warrants multiple videos.
@@williamthebonquerer9181 lol not really, the war in the Congo was worse, but the country is African and a basket case.
Great video! Your videos are always so well-researched and this one was no different. African geopolitics are interesting; and it makes me happy to see videos about Africa on quality platforms like the CaspianReport. Although I am quite new to RUclips, I hope that one day my own channel will reach your level and quality of video-making.
Keep up the good work! Love from South Africa 🇿🇦
I lived in South Africa for 30 years (1990 to 2020). I drank Lesotho's water. This project was a life saver; we all remember low levels of the Vaal Dam.
Few annoying things: Lesotho's water does not reach Cape Town: you frequently show images of Cape Town.
Spelling mistake at 9:59 of Gautang --> Gauteng.
Timestamp 10:06. According to my knowledge, Limpopo doesn't use Lesotho's water. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the Lesotho's water only reaches the Vaal Dam.
Mistake at 9:28 the road scene. It is mirrored. South Africa and Lesotho drive on the LEFT. Also, that road is probably from South Africa Timestamp 15:03 That is Sani Pass with 100% certanty. I drove up and it personally twice. This section is absolutely stunning, but is not in Lesotho. It lies between the two border checkpoints.
I really love this video. You should do more videos on these type of subjects. The most interesting to me is how nations have these relations with each other based on geographic differences.
Have been watching your work since the beginning, this is one of your best videos to date. Keep up the good work. Thanks
At the summit of one mountain, is the foot of other.
I swear Shirvan has got some of the best quotes in all his videos.
No, it’s just sophistry that is required to grow more popular as it appeals to people who don’t ask about it, which is most people
@@looinrims Who hurt you?
In the late 1980's I bought a pair of swim-trunks that said, _"Made in The Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho."_ First time I'd ever heard of it!
Lesotho was a major gainer from America's African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) becoming a major textile exporter. Unfortunately that sector was decimated in 2008 due to low demand and with higher competition since its never really recovered.
It is good to see content covering issues and situations in Southern Africa as a South African myself. Thank you Shirvan. South Africa has a lot of potential to be a major global player and a leading nation on the continent.
BRICS will hopefully change the world for the better
@@davesprivatelounge We all know Brics wont.
A bad deal for 1 side is a bad deal for both. Creating a problem to have a solution is a very bad deal.
South Africa has poor leadership skills. She will never lead anyone.
@@RK-cj4oc Why not?
Excellent and informative video! I gain so much from this channel. As a South African, I can say that you really did a great job! Also agree with other comments: please do a video on BRICS and where it is going
Look at that! I've travelled through that country extensively, and have seen the system being built over the years, from nothing to running over.
And yes, South Africa is going backwards.
Facts but it's a slow fall. What is sad is that there's nothing to replace the ANC worth voting for.
The people of South Africa are trying so hard to keep the country on track, but the ANC led government and its rampant corruption are absolutely tearing everything apart.
@@PluvioZA we had infrastructure. We had possibilities of expansion. On the dams and power. We had trains that where actually a viable and safe option. We had stocks of oil saved up, we had a strong currency( not necessarily good for a export nation like sa)
But now escom can barely Power us, having water shortages every 5 years lol what trains.
The only thing we got that is good is roads.
@@allliquid6320 All very true, even then... our roads are only good in certain provinces, and between certain areas.
@@PluvioZA oh true. I forgor. As I don't travel enough in sa.
4:33 Correct me if I’m wrong but based on the clothes, the person in this stock video might be Maasai and not Basotho. Two pretty different cultures from different parts of Africa. Yes there’s probably not a lot of available stock footage but still…
There's a huge derth of Africa themed stock footage. Probably none of that video was from Lesotho so you can't really blame him.
He looks like the basotho I have seen while hiking in the drakensburg (in towns and urban areas they dont dress like that much), they wear blankets like that when herding in the mountains. If you want to nitpick there is a lot of footage of capetown which does not benefit from the Lesotho highland water project, but I am not here to look at stock footage its the content of message thats very relevent and well researched.
@@CodeSwag Black Panther has a whole tribe of guys who look like Sotho's, should've copy and pasted from there
Thanks bro for this video. I've been waiting for a video involving SA for a long time. I've subscribed to your channel years ago. Thank you for the in depth analysis. I live the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan area and we receive most of our water from the orange River which has its origins in Lesotho
Great report CaspianReport, I think it's important to note that the water would still end up in SA, just not on the side we need it, hence we've re-directed it, but since Lesotho is completely surrounded by SA, all its rivers eventually flow into SA.
After finishing the video, I totally agree with the introduction statement: it's better to test the depth of the water with one foot instead of two.
I'm South African, and I have never heard of this before...
Your pronunciation is impressive. One thing: Gauteng is pronounced more like Hrauteng. 'G's are funny in Afrikaans.
Rape, murder, theft and that is just the politicians of SA
The people that live there are all animals that deserve cages.
Yeee also limpopo is popo when the Americans say 'here comes the popo' (police) 🤣 and then one or two other small errors
Dutch and afrikaans have great g's, dont they? The only language with funnier g's is the variety of Galician (spoken in the part of Spain directly north of Portugal) that pronounces them like Arabic emphatic/pharyngeal h's
Lol! No ways! Almost everything not in English was mispronounced.
Gauteng is not Afrikaans. It’s The indigenous Sesotho language. It simply means “place of gold”
Wow. Lesotho is indeed the kingdom in the sky. It is like Switzerland. The concerns of misuse of the riparian land areas can be addressed creatively. The drying up and/or submerging of arable land can be reversed by deliberate irrigation and reclamation respectively.
Lesotho has abundant water resources that exceed requirements for possible future irrigation projects and development. The total water consumption in Lesotho is about 2m³/s, while the total availability is about 150m³/s. - these are really great potentials...
Country completely surrounded by SA, damning all the water. Sounds like South Africa is going to start spreading some "Freedom" to Lesotho soon.
It will turn out that the current regime is not a tiny bit better than the Apartheid one.
The SADF cannot even walk in a straight line. The weapons manufacturers and R&D are bankrupt.
We won't be spreading anything.
Start? We've been Spreading "Freedom" around Southern Africa for decades now. Think We've given Lesotho "Freedom" about 3 times to date
@@the-quintessenz how is that?
As a long-time standing subscriber of the Caspian report, I can pretty much say that this was covered well.
I always wondered why Lesotho existed as an independent country
Because they managed to defeat the boers
@@tshepo4612they were a British protectorate.thats why they survived as a country
It's part of history, so many wars happened in Southern Africa that caused Lesotho to remain the sovereign state to this day!
Love to see Southern African content
thank you for an episode focusing on southern africa
It's great to see my 2nd home South Africa get some highlights
Nice video. Lesotho is a vasal state of South Africa. Nothing more, nothing less. Like you said, all it has is water to bargain with. We can romanticise the struggles as much as possible it doesn't change the fact that the country is geopolitical insignificant and heavily reliant on South Africa for everything from fuel to cheese.
That is the sad reality and it's not only Lesotho, the whole of Southern Africa depends on SA. That is why we must make sure that SA never fails.
@@kamvazenani4153 A load we must carry for everyone.
@@kamvazenani4153 No it's not sad South Africa just needs to mature and understand we need to treat our neighbours as citizens as they fall under our orbit .
South African here, one of the huge issues is the government of South Africa does not collect payment for services from low income areas. They are not selling a lot of the water they buy.
Awsome video! Not often you hear something about problems like this, very interesting!
South Africa should just annex Lesotho...
This presentation was very illuminating. I knew that within South Africa there were several 'independent' "Bantu" states, but with what little I knew I assumed that SA did not want governance of them, because they were worthless economically, or else thought they were created as 'Potemkin villages' for world opinion. But to think that this tiny kingdom is the aquifer for so much of the region, and to think of how catastrophic relations with SA have been for Lesotho, it boggles the mind. It seems that few in Lesotho have benefited from modernization, with the exception of the well-connected.
Remittances from SA account for about a quarter of Lesotho's GDP. The two countries are heavily economically integrated.
@@cxzact9204 Ouch. That's bad.
Beautifully covered as always 👌
1. The Highlands Water Project starter in started in the early 80’s, late 70’s……
2.Lesotho puts out bigger Diamonds than Botswana….
3. At 4:28 - 4:34 those are not Basotho Villages nor Basotho…. that is misrepresentation
4. Lesotho has always been an independent Monarchy before the arrival of settlers.
5. At 5:05 that is not Pretoria (The Capital City of SA), Pretoria doesn’t have a coast line, its very much inland. So again, misrepresentation.
6. The Highlands Project consists of 5 Phases; Katse, Muela, Mohale, Metolong, Polihali, including the tunnels and low land dams.
7. At 10:47 that’s a picture of Boekaap Cape Town, nothing to do with Lesotho
8. At 14:28 that is GreenPoint in Cape Town
9. The issue of royalties has been under review since 2017…
Your stock image is misleading. I’d suggested getting in Contact with people such as Prof Sean Maliehe (Author of Basothos Economic History from 1500’s till 2015)…. There is a not of misinformation on this video.
The historical background story has loopholes. I’d also advice getting in touch with the LHDA (Lesotho Highlands Development Authority) your figures are also a bit off.
A great attempt but there are gross inconsistencies…. There is not none single image of Lesotho in your video…. There are plenty of Videographers that would gladly supply you with stock footage in MASERU (not MAZURU)……
Spicey.
No, botswana has more dimonds than Lesotho.
@@oo--7714 keep dreaming
Bless my king,am proud to have people like you around here...am not sure if your sotho or not but they are trying to mislead the world about us and to keep us divided while they got a little information about us.
Absolute amazing video, with a few small weird things but nothing that detracts from the information. Love this. thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!! love from South Africa
According to population pyramid, Lesotho's birth rate made quite a jump in the past 5 years. I wonder what's the reason for that. After all, you'd expect such a country knowing about the limitations of its nature given capacities to facilitate a stable demography. As things are going, they will have to turn one valley after another into a water filled basin, robbing itself from self-sufficiency in other areas like food. That's not a good plan, if things remain on the current trajectory,
These are Africans they don't care about that,they will have kids until the whole thing collapses
They will move to South Africa. South Africa has more Basotho than Lesotho. The same applies to Swazis and Tswanas. These are European borders between the Boers, British, Portuguese and Germans.
@@louvendran7273 Africa for WHITES
@@louvendran7273 The borders of Lesotho held up pretty well, if you ask me. After all, they've managed to thwart off all European advances. That's worth something.
Its a sad fact that the more impoverished and underdeveloped a country is, the higher its fertility rate. You can see this everywhere. Both between countries and even within them. Poverty encourages higher population growth rates. Or rather, development encourages lower birthrates.
Historically birthrate has always been high as has death rate with famine and disease keeping the population in check. Its better medicine and agricultural yield that upsets the balance and allows for explosive growth. Its economic development and education that lowers birth rate and restore stability. If that latter never happens, then it will be only a matter of time before population outstrips supply and famine and disease act to restore the balance by increasing the death rate once again.
As a South African, I'm kinda sad that Lesotho has to give South Africa water, even if there isn't enough for it's own people
Looks like they have plenty of water bro..
It's not done for free
I think we can all agree that as long as the people on both sides benefit from the dams, they are a good thing...
it's all about proper calibration...from the information in the video I'd say that the prices should take the inflation into account which they currently don't, this could be renegotiated, so in the end, some political compromise which is feasible. One more thing is better organization of the projects and redistribution of the profit and the fair competition for construction companies to join on the project if they match for the requirements. This is a lot harder and I can't think of way to implement it.
But when thinking about this in the context of climate change and long-term durability....I have a feeling more dams don't look like a good idea, but without proper analysis, who can say
We have a dam (Metolong Dam) that caters for the locals.
You have empathy and integrity, that's why. Rare characteristics in our days. So many people will rationalise 'anything' so long as it suits their purposes.
If Lesotho demanded that unskilled laborers for the dams had to solely be drawn from the local population then many of the economic woes would've been soothed, but for some reason this didn't happen. Such a simple decision would see many citizens of Lesotho uplifted economically; however, most of the labor seems to be outsources to SA migrant workers which just seems foolish to me. Hard to feel sorry for them when the way forward is so clear.
Does not sound like they were listened to.
Dude how can they do that when there is no infrastructure and no incentive to invest in the country.
Even you guys just view as an ant.
And your explanation just wouldn’t work or make Lesotho a rich country.
Brilliant delivery as always, Shirvan!!!
About the annexation thing: South Africa had no interest because Lesotho was a stable and working "Bantustan". Where was no reason to destroy what they advertised as the future for blacks in South Africa.
Excellent work from this page.
I don’t know if The World Court works in civil cases (or works @ all) but with enough PR/visibility, Lesotho might be able to force a semi-reasonable re-write of the contract.
Whatever happens it sounds ripe for corruption unless any and all negotiations are kept in the open.
Another good report.
Congratulations.
@6:55 the dam basket LOL
One of the smoother transitions to commercial I’ve seen, nice
This material is of good quality, few journalists can do it this way.
The Basotho people were attacked by the Zulus not the Boers.
It certainly sounds like Lesotho is utterly screwed!
Correct
There's a joke about the rains down in Africa somewhere in me but my caffeine hasn't kicked in yet.
As always, a great video about an almost unknown topic among the rivalries of superpowers. I would also point that the graphics of the rivers and reservoirs was a bit confusing. I believe better could have been done.
About the project there is also another big problem for Lesotho: soil erosion. With climate change and the overgrazing of the few pastures left the soil is heavily eroding. This means enormous quantities of sediments are running through the valleys and filling the reservoirs. If the reservoirs end up with more sediments than water itself, than this supposedly win-win project is condemned to failure, bringing benefits but lots of damage.
The future seems uncertain for Lesotho, but this strategic nation can have a key role in the future. South Africa seems increasingly unstable. If we see in the next decades ethnic separatism, especially among the lowland Basotho, the Kingdom of the Sky could expand it’s borders, free itself from a semi-protectorate status and gain a new influence in the region. However History plays, lets hope Peace prevails and the people remain unharmed.
Peace will prevail
The problem with that is that there is no real interest in Breaking up SA among Racial lines, nor is there any real or feasible way to do that. What most maps don't show, is although certain ethnicities are the "majority" in certain provinces, that "majority" is only at around 40-60% at best, with the other 40-60% being made up by a mixture of all the other ethnicities, There are no true "ethnic lines of divide" in SA, as every ethnicity moved around and intermingled so much post-Apartheid, that a separation along ethnic lines literally isn't possible or feasible. And on top of that, Lesotho has a reasonably strong movement in it to make it SA's 10th province. As things currently stand, there's a better chance of SA just having a rough decade while the ANC goes completely out of power, and then admitting both eSwatini and Lesotho as 10 and 11th provinces, than there is for SA to break up along ethnic lines
I almost studied abroad in Lesotho in 2012. Passed & got to study abroad in Chile & Argentina that summer, Cuba in 2013.
Unfortunately, Lesotho can't do anything about it and they know it. If they take away our access to their water, then we'd take away their physical access to the international market. All their imports & exports can only move through SA territory first before reaching their destinations.
With regards to annexation though, I doubt we'd ever force them. Infact, many SAns already consider Lesotho to be the unofficial 10th province. We share the same culture and history. Reunification is only a matter of when, but eish, with African politicians, holding on to power is more important than life itself.
Really excellent analysis
Dude, Moshoeshoe I looks like a complete badass!
He WAS a complete badass. He pretty much created the whole Basotho nation through diplomacy and warfare. He played an integral role in his people surviving the Zulu caused Difaqane (crushing, scattering) also known as the Mefecana or Time of Troubles which uprooted many African tribes and led to untold deaths. Its why the Basotho retreated to the Mountain Fortress that acted as their safe refuge throughout their entire history.
@@TheJayjayforce That's amazing. Know any other resources on his life or is that just stuff you osmosed over time? I love learning about important African figures because western education does such a massive disservice to the entire continent, Africa seems to only exist as a victim in our education system which, while obviously true, ignores all the great works of African groups and ignores their agency.
@@Tinil0 Unfortunately not. I'm sure there is stuff out there, but what I know of him I've mostly picked up from different places over time.
In South Africa and the world more generally he (and a lot of other stuff in Southern Africa) tends to get overlooked in favour of Shaka Zulu. Which to be fair, he was a major figure oft compared to people like Alexandra the Great. Also because he fought the British and Boers alone and rejected Europeans (Moshoeshoe I allied with Europeans to fight other Europeans) and the Zulus are the largest and most influential tribe in SA today. This also tends to result in Shaka being "sanitized" a bit somewhat. Talking more about things like his military achievements and cultural legacy and not about things like him ordering the death of pregnant women and their husbands after his mothers death. He is also said to have ordered over 7000 to be executed for not being sufficiently grief stricken and for the mothers of calf's to be killed so that they too would know his pain.
Shaka is a bit of a controversial figure in SA with some (mostly Zulus) near worshiping him and others (mostly non-Zulus) pointing out his faults.
I know for Shaka there was a very influential dramatic series made about him in the 1980s and that a new movie about him is being made. I hope Moshoeshoe I also gets that at some point. Though that would naturally have to paint Shaka as more of an antagonist character given his role as an aggressive military conqueror.
Another interesting group that's often overlooked in SA is the Griqua. Mixed descendants of native KhoiKhoi and Dutch colonists. They had a more European culture and sometimes got guns and money gifted to them from their fathers. They also left the Cape like the Boers and set up their own short-lived independent frontier states. They didn't last long, but many places still bare their name to this day.
He was
Well-made video on the water issues of two african countries. I'll watch for the next African Civil War.
Love this channel!!!
As a South African, I had no idea of any of this, so I appreciate the education. I really know so little about our neighbours. Also, it is funny to me how many clips are shown of Cape Town, which has so little relation to the content of this video.
The water analogies are strong with this one.
This is fucken ART! Bravo Mr Shirvan!
this was a fascinating topic. thank you.
This is a good example as to why independence isn't always the shiney thing you thought it was
I believe you have some historical facts wrong. The Basotho were chased into the mountains of Lesotho not by the Europeans , but by the Ndebele / Zulu people's and the biggest friction with the Europeans was initially with the Xhosa and then significantly with the Zulu .. not the Basotho who were in general in good relations with the Europeans .. That's how I know the history broadly , but I am not an expert
I grew up at the foothills of Lesotho , they are not an aggressive culture
The Sotho people's , including the Basotho from Lesotho is part of a different group from the Ndebele , Zulu and Xhosa , whom are more culturally related to each other .
i grew up in the foothills of the drakensberg and i do believe though that there was a lot of friction with the boer settlers who were moving up into the free state. its a beautiful country with great people
@@lm_b5080 you might know more than me about this .. I am from the Harrismith , Bethlehem , Ficksburg area.
Firstly.ndebele had no issue with the sotho.ndebele ppl are not even found in Sotho dominated areas.there was Sotho -zulu conflicts,but the results of this was northern migration of Lozi( a Sotho speaking tribe) who fled the area and went as far both as Malawi .and are still present today.
Sotho ppl were all under the leadership of one all powerful leader.while moshoeshoe was very prominent he didn't have authority of all Sotho speaking people.thats why you have Sotho ppl of Lesotho and Sotho ppl of Lesotho who were followers of moshoeshoe.
Afrikaner encroachment was the one of the reasons why moshoeshoe fled to the mountains.
Afrikaner policies also reserved 97 percent of the land in the free state for themselves.