OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maseru | Tuesday 9.45pm.
THE streets of Maseru were packed on Tuesday as scores of people flooded into the Lesotho capital to do their banking and survey the damage caused by vandals during the invasion of Southern African Development Community troops.
Activity in the devastated country appeared to return to normal as magistrates’ courts across the country began hearing cases against people accused of arson and looting in the chaos caused by the invading troops.
Government offices — which re-opened on Monday — also appeared to be returning to normal as increasing numbers of public servants returned to work. Opposition party supporters forced the closure of government offices in the weeks before the SADC intervention last Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the SADC joint task force said a surprising number of weapons had been recovered from various military bases in Lesotho, including 30 truckloads of armaments which have been sent to South Africa for investigation. The spokesperson said it was not yet clear who had stockpiled the weapons or why. During the SADC intervention it was reported that there were 53 trucks filled with weapons at the Makonyane barracks which had not been detected by SANDF intelligence in advance of the fighting. Many of the Lesotho Defence Force soldiers who have returned to Maseru and to their posts have come back without their weapons, the joint task force has reported.
The South African Post Office, meanwhile, says mail to the mountain kingdom is still halted, with several hundred kilograms of parcels and letters being held in Bloemfontein. The last time the SAPO was able to dispatch mail to Lesotho was on September 15. Repeated attempts to contact the Lesotho postal services have so far gained no response, a SAPO spokesperson said.