Lesotho debates huge land reclaim from South Africa

If successful, the country's land mass would grow by 800 per cent

Drakensberg, Lesotho. Jandre van der Walt/ Unsplash

MPs from the small nation of Lesotho debated a motion to reclaim huge areas of land from neighbouring South Africa on Wednesday.

The motion put forward by opposition MP Tsepo Lipholo of the Basotho Convenient Movement aims to have parliament declare South Africa's entire Free State province, which borders Lesotho, as well as areas of four more regions as part of the small mountain kingdom.

His party, of which he is the only elected MP, ran on the issue ahead of national elections last year and it is a popular topic among the opposition.

"History has a record of what was taken from our people and that people were killed in the process. It is time to correct that," he told parliament.

Basothos, people from southern Africa's Bantu ethnic group who now live in Lesotho, used to live in the area, before they were seized by white South Africans, known as Afrikaners in the 19th century.

In the unlikely event the motion was voted into law, Lesotho would see its territory grow from just 30,000 square km to approximately 240,000sq km.

The motion is based on a 1962 United Nations resolution that recognised the right to self-determination and independence for the people of Basutoland, as Lesotho was then called.

But a 1964 agreement reached in Cairo saw members of the Organisation of African Unity, now known as the African Union, agree to recognise existing borders.

Lesotho, with a population of about two million, is entirely surrounded by South Africa, population 60 million, and on which its economy largely depends. Therefore it is unlikely the motion will pass.

Agencies contributed to this report