While Prosperous South Africa Cheers, Impoverished Lesotho – Next Door - Weeps

(HN, July 8, 2010) - Bole Makeka stands by her souvenir stand near Maseru’s newly-renovated stadium and waits - and waits and waits and waits. There are few customers in sight to purchase any of her t-shirts with World Cup team logos.

Asked how sales are going, Bole, who is hopelessly poor and uses an abandoned van to prop up her wares, shrugs her shoulders and displays empty hands.

One of the least-developed nations in the world, the land-locked kingdom of Lesotho is entirely surrounded by World Cup host country South Africa. In the run-up to the month-long, world's biggest sporting event, Bole and her countrymen had high hopes they would be beneficiaries of the millions of tourist and investment dollars flowing into Southern Africa. Bole Makeka, one of the thousands of people in Lesotho complaining of a lack of World Cup business. (HN, 2010)

Government officials here hoped that minor infrastructure upgrades - coupled with the country's natural beauty, proximity to the host nation and low costs - would lure soccer teams and tourists alike. There were also attempts to position Lesotho - which brands itself as the highest nation in the world - as an ideal place for athletes looking for high altitude training venues since no part of the nation exists below 1,500m.  

"There was a belief in Lesotho that thousands of visitors would come during the World Cup," said David Hall, an analyst who also manages a hilltop lodge in Morija, 45 km south of Maseru. “But we have only had a trickle.”

Lesotho's capital, Maseru, is just over an hour’s drive from Bloemfontein - one of the eight South African cities chosen to host World Cup matches.  One joke going around is that you can hear the vuvuzelas as far away as Maseru whenever a match is being played in Bloemfontein.

"Prior to the start of the World Cup we actually had very high hopes that Lesotho would benefit. But very unfortunately we have seen the opposite of that.  As people came from overseas we believed that is where the money would come from,” said Norman, a college professor in Maseru.  “But unfortunately we have not seen as many of them as we had expected."

Several sources in Lesotho interviewed by HUMNEWS said that instead of benefitting from the World Cup frenzy, Lesotho has actually been badly sidelined, even economically damaged.

The biggest complaint is that tens of thousands of people have had their cross-border travel privileges revoked due to a last-minute South African ruling in June mandating tighter border screening.

 

What that means in practical terms is that Lesotho citizens heading to their wealthier neighbour are unable to use the temporary document that normally gives them nearly unfettered access to South Africa. Travellers with Lesotho passports can still cross, but most people here don't carry a passport and applying for one means a lengthy wait - not to mention a hefty price tag.A concealed camera shows people lining up to cross the Lesotho-South Africa border. (HN, 2010)

Norman, the professor, said he believes the tightened border restrictions means that fewer South Africans are coming into Lesotho and that means tourists too. 

With about half of the people here living below the poverty line and with one of every two adults unemployed, the temptation to head to South Africa for better paying jobs is high. After customs revenues from South Africa, remittances from Lesotho nationals working in South African mines and other businesses is an important contributor to the nations’ coffers.

One Johannesburg-based book writer told HUMNEWS that his housekeeper - a Lesotho national - is stuck in Maseru for the entire duration of the World Cup because she had the misfortune of visiting home just as the new rules were introduced.

And getting a passport on a moment's notice is almost impossible. There is said to be a backlog of 250,000 passport applications at the Lesotho issuing office, which is only capable of processing just 6,000 passports a day.

One local businessman said the South African government's decision to tighten border controls was made in response to pressure from FIFA - which reportedly feared undesirables and soccer hooligans flying directly into Lesotho and then crossing unscreened into nearby South Africa.

However when asked by HUMNEWS whether this was the case, South Africa’s Trade Minister, Rob Davies, said the host nation had actually made it easier for southern Africans to visit. He added that neighbouring countries also have a responsibility to take advantage of opportunities created by the World Cup on their own. 

Mope, a sales representative at one of the major mobile phone operators, said that Lesotho is also losing out from its own citizens - those who can travel - going to Bloemfontein to catch some of the World Cup fever.  "They should be spending money here at home but instead they are going to South Africa and opening their wallets there." she said.

One of the poorest countries in southern Africa, Lesotho can least afford to take a financial hit from the Games. The country of 1.8-million has one of the highest HIV infections rates in the world - almost one of every three adults carries the virus - and one of the lowest life expectancy rates. Moreover it suffers enormously from a brain drain problem.

Ironically, the games have long-since been promoted by FIFA and South African Government officials as "Africa's Games." The 2010 games mark the first time the competition has been held on African soil and the so-far successful hosting has sparked new talk of Africa making a bid for the Olympics. 

Indeed, South African officials can hardly contain their exuberance when asked about what the Games will do for their nation. South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said recently the World Cup will add 0.4 percent (R38bn) to GDP this year.

But asked whether he thought the Games were truly African, the book writer replied in one word: "bullshit” - adding that, even in the host nation, there are tens of thousands of people who will not benefit, perhaps even lose money.

Former Irish President Mary Robinson said many street sellers in South African host cities have been moved from their customary spots to make room for the Games - and to satisfy stringent FIFA marketing rules. 

So harsh was the treatment of street vendors that Robinson, a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has publicly urged Brazil and other countries hosting major sporting events to take away lessons learned from the 2010 World Cup and ensure better treatment of vulnerable small businesspeople.

Most people in the service industry interviewed by HUMNEWS in Johannesburg and Cape Town said they could not attend any matches - due to long working hours, the difficulty in actually obtaining tickets and the high ticket prices.

--Reporting by HUMNEWS' Michael Bociurkiw in Maseru, Lesotho.

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One local businessman said the South African government's decision to tighten border controls was made in response to pressure from FIFA - which reportedly feared undesirables and soccer hooligans flying directly into Lesotho and then crossing unscreened into nearby South Africa.