A South African opposition politician has reignited debate on the controversial issue of co-opting Eswatini and Lesotho as provinces of their stronger neighbour on whom both countries heavily rely for economic survival.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba took to microblogging site Twitter on Tuesday to push for the incorporation of Eswatini and Lesotho into South Africa so that they become the country’s 10th and 11th provinces.
He called on leaders of the two countries to swallow their pride and accept the proposal to become provinces of South Africa for “the interest of their citizens.”
“I know they are historical nations, but can they economically sustain their current geographical independence?” the former Johannesburg mayor wrote.
Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa and – together with Eswatini – depends on its economically stronger neighbour for most economic goods and services.
A sizeable percentage of both countries’ citizens work in South Africa where they are mostly employed in mines or on farms.
Mashaba accused “selfish leadership” for holding back development in the two countries and making them unsustainably dependent on South Africa.
This is not the first time that the issue of Lesotho becoming a South African province has come up over the past few years.
Former finance minister Tito Mboweni raised the issue in January 2020 when he called for the removal of the border between South Africa and Lesotho.
Mboweni later backtracked on his sentiments.
JN/APA