Maseru, Lesotho

Maseru is the capital of the Kingdom of Lesotho, a country in southern Africa. It is Lesotho's only major town and its commercial and administrative center. Founded in 1869, Maseru was historically seen as a beacon of nonconformity during the long era of South African apartheid (1948–94), during which the government maintained policies of racial segregation and discrimination. Maseru has since expanded rapidly, and it has struggled with many of the same problems afflicting cities throughout much of Africa, including poverty, inadequate housing, unemployment, poor sanitation, and overcrowding.

Landscape

Maseru is located in western Lesotho on the left bank of the Caledon River, near the border of South Africa. Lesotho itself is a tiny enclave completely surrounded by South Africa. Although built on what are considered the lowlands of Lesotho's largely mountainous terrain, the capital still sits at an altitude of 1,770 meters (5,807 feet). It lies along Lesotho's chief highway and is linked by rail to neighboring South Africa. The capital's main thoroughfare, Kingsway Road, runs from Maseru's center all the way to the South African border.

Maseru radiates out from a small but bustling center where scattered remnants of the town's nineteenth-century British colonial past—modest structures built of locally mined reddish sandstone—are intermingled with modern buildings and informal marketplaces. Much of the center remained under reconstruction in the early part of the twenty-first century as part of the government's efforts to revitalize areas burned and looted during the civil unrest of 1998, which destroyed around 80 percent of the capital's commercial infrastructure.

A large percentage of the dwellings in Maseru's residential areas, although poor, are not densely packed together. In recent years, more and more migrants have flocked to the capital in search of an escape from rural poverty. Many of the new arrivals live in makeshift housing, without running water, electricity, or sanitation services. These sprawling shantytowns, which are informal settlements, have pushed Maseru's boundaries steadily outward.

Maseru features a temperate subtropical climate, although frost and even snowfall can occur in winter. The rainy season, characterized by intense thunderstorms, lasts from October through April. Daytime high temperatures in the summer range on average between 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) and 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit), while average winter lows range between -1 degree Celsius (30 degrees Fahrenheit) and 6 degrees Celsius (43 degrees Fahrenheit).

People

Although the urban area has fewer than a million inhabitants—an estimated 202,000 in 2018, according to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)—Maseru is nonetheless Lesotho's most populous town. Prior to the mid-1990s, the capital's population increased around 7 percent annually, but growth slowed to about 3.5 percent in the mid-1990s and early 2000s.

Maseru's indigenous population, like that of Lesotho as a whole, is ethnically homogeneous, consisting almost exclusively of the Basotho people. The city is also home to small communities of expatriates, with many of the European expatriates involved in teaching, government, technical, foreign aid, or missionary work. Most of the Asian nationals, primarily Taiwanese, are engaged in commercial activities.

Most Maseru residents speak Sesotho, part of the Bantu language family and one of Lesotho's two official languages. The other, English, is used in government, business, and educational settings, where it is far more common than in other parts of Lesotho. Xhosa and Zulu are also spoken to a lesser extent, the latter commonly by migrants from the northeastern part of Lesotho.

The majority of Maseru's inhabitants are Christian, a reflection of Lesotho's colonial past and the influence of Western missionaries, and some adherents combine their Christian faith with indigenous spiritual beliefs and practices. Protestants and Roman Catholics make up the largest denominations.

Economy

While Lesotho's economy remains based on exports of water and electricity to the surrounding South Africa, the textile industry has played an increasingly significant role in the capital's economy. Many women have migrated to Maseru to find employment at the various garment factories located on the outskirts of the capital. Maseru's modest manufacturing base also consists of processing facilities for wool, hides, grains, footwear, and food and beverage products.

In an attempt to support the industry locally, regulations were imposed in 2018 that limited farmers to selling their wool and mohair products (two of the main agricultural exports) in the country rather than through a brokerage in South Africa as had traditionally been done. However, a Lesotho growers association opposed to the regulations as infringing on their rights brought the case to the High Court of Lesotho, which ruled that they were illegal in early 2019.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project, a large-scale water and hydroelectricity export program, generates significant revenue for a country that has few natural resources other than its mountain streams. The project uses the headwaters of the Orange River system to export water to industrial areas in and around the South African capital of Johannesburg. Ancillary dams generate hydroelectricity, which is also exported. While the project accounts for a significant portion of Lesotho's gross domestic product (GDP), it has had some negative impact on Maseru, where water shortages have become more common. Periodic drought conditions have strained a water supply already diminished by exporting and by increased demand for water by Maseru's own growing industrial sector. To help meet some of this industry demand and supply more water for domestic consumption in areas such as Maseru, the Metolong Dam was constructed and completed in 2016.

Indigenous small-business owners have faced increasingly stiff competition from Chinese immigrants turned entrepreneurs, who have opened numerous small groceries, Internet cafes, and clothing stores. These family-owned businesses have been targeted by protesters in Maseru, who complain that African traders in the informal economy are seeing their meager livelihoods dry up as a result of the availability of cheaper Chinese goods. Temporary labor is a popular form of employment in Maseru, including road repair and domestic work.

Landmarks

Maseru's most distinctive landmark is the Mokorotlo building, a large structure featuring a thatched roof in the shape of a mokorotlo, or traditional Basotho hat. The building, in which traditional local handicrafts are sold, serves as a key point of orientation in the capital. It was destroyed in the civil unrest of 1998 but rebuilt in 2001.

Three other notable Maseru landmarks are the Royal Palace, which serves as the residence of Lesotho's monarch and his family; the Parliament building; and the prime minister's residence. The area in front of the Royal Palace is a popular spot for political demonstrations, and the civil unrest of 1998 began with a protest at the site.

The Roman Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Victories is situated at the main point of entry to the capital. The church's colossal size and colonial-style architecture make it one of Maseru's most imposing structures. Not far from the city center stands the Papal Pavilion, which was built for the 1988 visit of Pope John Paul II. Maseru also features a number of weaving centers where traditional Basotho products are made.

Other landmarks in the Maseru vicinity include Lancer's Gap, located just north of capital, which marks the site of a famous 1852 battle in which Basotho forces routed colonial forces; and the statue of Moshoeshoe I (1786–1870), considered the founding father of modern Lesotho.

History

Maseru existed as a modest trading outpost when Moshoeshoe I proclaimed it the capital of the Basotho people in 1869. Four years earlier, Moshoeshoe, a formidable political strategist and military tactician, had taken control of nearby Thaba Bosiu, a plateau-top fortress from which he had launched his successful campaign to create a common sense of identity among various local peoples. Under his leadership, the newly unified Basotho people were able to thwart attempts by other indigenous groups to crush their autonomy.

In the same year that Moshoeshoe declared Maseru his capital, colonial forces officially named Maseru the administrative headquarters of the British Basutoland protectorate as well. Following Lesotho's achievement of independence in 1966, the Basuto National Party dominated affairs in Maseru for two decades. In 1993, constitutional governance was restored following several years of military rule; five years later, disputed elections led to a coup and violent unrest that left much of Maseru in ruins. At the behest of Maseru officials, South African and Botswanan forces intervened to restore order.

Although peaceful parliamentary elections took place in 2002, the National Assembly elections of 2007 generated much controversy, despite their validation by international observers. Disputes over the allocation of parliamentary seats sparked massive protest rallies that disrupted commerce and transportation in the capital. Maseru also experienced unrest in the aftermath of government efforts to evict unlicensed street vendors from the capital's business district. Despite further elections, political instability remained a concern, particularly at times such as when the chief of the nation's army was killed in the capital in 2017. In 2010, the relatively new People's Charter Movement petitioned South Africa to annex Lesotho, due in part to economic difficulties caused by the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, which affected an estimated 320,000 people nationwide in 2017, according to the CIA. The South African government rejected the request. By 2021, the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the nation was the second highest in the world.

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