/ 2 November 2001

Heading towards Operation Blunder?

Hazel Friedman

“Can I pour you a SADC special ? Or one of our alcohol-free independence day cocktails perfect for a sobering day?”

I am sitting in a shebeen on the outskirts of Maseru. Three years ago, this was the watering hole of choice for journalists bored with sipping sundowners at the Lesotho Sun hotel. Three years later the shebeen owner, Joseph Mofokeng, is concocting another cocktail to commemorate the recent deployment of South African troops in Burundi. “Let’s hope we don’t have to call this cocktail Operation Blunder, like Boleas,” he jokes.

On September 22 1998 the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) principally South Africa and Botswana launched Operation Boleas in response to pleas by the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) to quell an army rebellion and growing anarchy in the mountain kingdom. Opposition parties had claimed that the election result that put the LCD in power was fraudulent. They launched an aggressive protest, urging their king to dissolve the newly elected Parliament and install a government of national unity.

Nine South African soldiers died while suppressing the army mutiny. Over 50 LDF soldiers and 40 civilians were killed by SADC forces. Order was restored, but not before much of Maseru’s business district and parts of neighbouring Mafateng and Mohale’s Hoek were reduced to rubble.

And questions remain unanswered about the massacre at Katse Dam in which 15 members of the LDF were mowed down by South African soldiers, some of them, allegedly, as they slept. Charges persist that excessive force was used.

The South African government continues to insist on the legitimacy of the operation in spite of the fact that its mandate was questioned by many.

“As is the case with the current deployment of troops to Burundi, the South African government’s intervention in Lesotho in 1998 involved no specific endorsement from the United Nations Security Council or the Organisation of African Unity,” says human rights lawyer Hakim Olafse.

The SADC forces concede that tactical shortcomings and poor intelligence resulted in a force too weak to handle the operational requirements and especially the level of resistance. But they say that messy means are justified by orderly ends.

The riots formed part of an orchestrated campaign by opposition members and rebellious soldiers to make the mountain monarchy ungovernable. Businesses owned by foreigners were targeted, while most of the government buildings, banks and the post office were left unscathed.

But the orgy of arson and looting was also a spontaneous eruption by a nation which had prided itself, until September 22, on never having been invaded. And if there remains a single image encapsulating the humiliation of this nation it is of the giant Basotho hat Lesotho’s most famous landmark engulfed in flames.

Today a new and improved hat has been constructed. “The country is trying to create an investor- friendly climate through incentives,” explains economist Peter Malephatlo. “It’s also downsizing and re-educating the army, and promoting a culture of peace and reconciliation.” He adds: “South Africa and Lesotho have learnt much from the intervention.”

The excesses resulting from Big Brother’s intervention have been largely forgiven by the Basotho. This is evident through the involvement of South Africa in the restructuring of the Lesotho army and SADC’s peaceful withdrawal from Lesotho in May 2000.

There have also been concerted efforts to mend relations with Lesotho’s foreign residents whose properties were targeted by looters.

Speaking at a Basotho-Indian community bosberaad in May 2000, workshop organiser Osman Sally Moosa said the main objective of the initiative was to provide an impartial platform for all Basotho to engage in crucial dialogue “to bring about the much needed environment for economic growth and development in which business will thrive, thereby generating employment for our people”.

But for most Basothos the post-Boleas reality consists mainly of rising unemployment and living costs. About 799 businesses were destroyed during the Maseru riots, while neighbouring Mafeteng and Mohale’s Hoek suffered the destruction of 136 and 105 businesses respectively. Damages ran into multimillions, yet 79% of businesses were uninsured.

“Three million people are still suffering from the mistakes of Operation Boleas,” says political analyst Sello Ramakgotla. “Considering the volatility of the rest of continent, it is likely that South Africa will become involved in further military interventions. We must know how far we can go and acknowledge past mistakes in order to avoid tragic long-term consequences for regional peace and stability.”