- Seven in 10 Basotho (71%) say their government should do all it can to reclaim the territory that Lesotho lost to South Africa during the colonial era, including 61% who “strongly agree” with the idea (Figure 1).
- Support for the return of the land is more pronounced among rural and peri-urban residents than among their urban counterparts (75%-78% vs. 61%) (Figure 2). o Fewer than half (45%) of adults with post-secondary education endorse this view, compared to more than seven in 10 respondents with lower educational attainment (72%-76%).
A large majority of Basotho want their government to do all it can to reclaim territory that Lesotho lost to South Africa during the colonial era, a new Afrobarometer survey indicates.
This follows a March 2023 motion proposed in the country’s National Assembly urging the government to engage the South African government in negotiations seeking the return of the territory. The parliamentary debate was subsequently adjourned and is awaiting executive action.
The territory concerned comprises the whole of South Africa’s Free State province, as well as portions of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, all of which border landlocked Lesotho. Lesotho claims historical affiliation with Sotho speakers living in these areas.
The current border was drawn following a deal between the British government and King Moshoeshoe that granted much of the land to the Boers, with whom the Basotho had been warring.