PASCALINAH KABI Bertha Foundation Fellow  Lesotho’s Director of the Department of Environment, Motsamai Damane’s bombshell admission that mining companies are polluting water sources that rural communities rely on has triggered a blame game in government.  While departments try to dodge being held accountable for not monitoring mining operations, this has raised questions about

Matiisetso Mosala Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro has failed to explain why a rural water supply project in the Tsikoane constituency has cost more than M205 million and is still not delivering water more than a decade after construction started. The project, which was launched in 2011 to supply water to over 20

A wind farm hailed as Africa’s largest renewable energy project and the solution to Lesotho’s hefty electricity costs has ground to a halt. Sechaba Mokhethi investigates why. A $15-billion wind farm project that would have given Lesotho bragging rights to Africa’s largest renewable energy project, slashed electricity prices and created thousands

By Steve Kretzmann Photos by Steve Kretzmann Data visualizations by Yuxi Wang Having spent much of his adult life working in the coal mines in Welkom, pensioner Hendrik Tlaudi says he now suffers from a bad back and must take medication on a daily basis. But Tlaudi, who lives in a state-subsidized house

 PASCALINAH KABI Bertha Foundation Fellow Landlocked Lesotho, is currently experiencing severe food insecurity as a result of a deal to meet neighbouring South Africa’s ever-increasing water needs.  The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) was billed as one that would bolster Lesotho’s position in the regional political economy and reassert its sovereignty. But, the

By Steve Kretzmann Data visualizations by Yuxi Wang When he was 13 years old, Rudy Hanse joined the guppy development program offered by the Milnerton Canoe Club in Cape Town. There he learned how to paddle a canoe and swim.  For Hanse, the weekly outing to the Milnerton Lagoon was a way to

A questionable tender to fix Lesotho’s dilapidated airport to meet international standards has been thrown into confusion – first by a liquidation order from a South African judge, then by a phone call from amaBhungane. Key Takeaways:• South African businessman Thulani Majola seemingly joined politically connected partners in Lesotho to win

…former employees claim WLSA Management defrauded their combined M1.9 million in gratuities Billy Ntaote Two Women and Law in Southern Africa Research and Education Trust executives in Lesotho (WLSA) are under investigation following official complaints from other employees that they have been siphoning donor funds for their private use. The European Union as

PASCALINAH KABI Bertha Foundation Fellow Sitting in her modest hut in the rural enclave of Patising in Mokhotlong, Lesotho, the 52-year-old ‘Mapontso Lematla says she first spotted the discoloured water in the local stream decades ago. “This water causes stomachaches and diarrhoea,” the soft-spoken Lematla said in an exclusive interview with MNN Centre

PASCALINAH KABI Bertha Foundation Fellow A leading mining company in Lesotho, Letšeng Diamonds Mine, has admitted in confidential reports that its operations are polluting water systems that poor, rural communities rely on daily. But the company denies this in public. The Patising and Maloraneng communities live near the mine and rely on