Saturday, September 20, 2014

Lesotho’s Patriotism to Solve Impasse Encouraging – Ramaphosa
South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa in talks with
Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane.
September 19, 2014 at 12:47 pm UTC

South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday said he was encouraged by a deep sense of patriotism among all political role-players in Lesotho and their determination to help find a lasting solution to the country’s current challenges.Ramaphosa, who is the Southern African Development Community (SADC) facilitator in the Lesotho crisis, was speaking at the end of his first official visit to the kingdom as part of regional efforts to assist the people of the country to find a peaceful resolution to their current challenges.

During the visit, the Deputy President briefed Lesotho King Letsie III on the mandate from the South African Development Community (SADC) Troika plus the DR Congo and Tanzania, which met in Pretoria on Monday, to chart the way forward out of the current challenges facing his kingdom.

Critical among the issues was an agreement by the role players to bring forward elections in Lesotho, the reconvening of parliament as well as the stabilisation of the security situation in the country.

The Facilitator also met the three leaders of the coalition government led by Prime Minister Tom Thabane and Deputy Prime Minister Metsing as well as members of the College of Chiefs and members of main and small opposition political parties to exchange views on the current situation and map the way forward.

According to the Presidency, all parties welcomed the visit and committed themselves to working with SADC to resolve the political challenges facing Maseru.

Ramaphosa will return to the Lesotho capital on Monday next week for a two-day visit as part of a series of visits that he will be making to assist the country to find an amicable resolution to its current challenges, according to the Presidency.

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