Maseru - He is an astute negotiator who played a central role in South Africa’s transition to democracy. Yet few had given Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa a chance when he initially landed here on September 18 to try to reconcile Lesotho’s perennially squabbling politicians.
On his first visit he faced a barrage of criticism from all parties he was meant to reconcile. The Democratic Congress (DC) of former prime minister Pakalitha Mosisili lambasted him for allotting them only 10 minutes in which he “sought to dictate a solution”.
Moeketse Malebo, leader of the bloc parties, a group of smaller parties in Parliament, criticised him for not meeting them at all during his first visit. One of the coalition government parties, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), labelled Ramaphosa a “time waster” who should only focus on ensuring the re-opening of parliament to allow a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Thomas Thabane.
Both the DC and LCD were adamant there is no need for early elections as they had formed a pact to oust Thabane and take over government. Together the two parties enjoyed a clear majority of 73 seats in the 120-member parliament.
They suggested Ramaphosa was ignorant of the workings of a Westminister-type parliamentary democracy in which no confidence motions are routine.
The DC’s senior official, Tlohang Sekhamane, even called for Ramaphosa’s replacement by President Jacob Zuma or someone else, accusing him of bias in favour of Thabane’s All Basotho Convention (ABC).
But the ABC also criticised Ramaphosa for neglecting the shaky security situation in the country. It vowed not to co-operate with him until the security situation had been resolved.
Presidents Zuma, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia had already achieved many signed agreements to secure the re-opening of parliament, which were ignored.
Enter Ramaphosa and on only his second visit a few days later, all the parties that had lambasted him immediately changed tune after he met them. They started eating out of his hand.
He then got them to sign the Maseru Facilitation Declaration (MFD), which finally led to the re-opening of parliament on Friday, after many previous attempts had failed. This was a definitive sign that his facilitation is holding.
Ramaphosa got all the parties to drop their hardline positions and to agree on a road map leading to fresh elections by the end of February.
Yet Ramaphosa refused to take any credit when Independent Newspapers asked him about the secret to his quick success.
“The strength of an organisation like SADC is that you have a 15-member country base which has a huge population and leaders who were all elected and, as soon as a problem arises in one country, they club together to assist the country that is experiencing turmoil.
“As soon as the problems emerged in Lesotho the leaders in the region got together and held discussions with the different role players… This whole effort has been so hugely successful… They have been engaged in discussions and dialogue and through all that they have been planting seeds that have germinated to be the Maseru Facilitation Declaration.
“The Maseru Facilitation Declaration did not just land from heaven or from the sky. It was discussed. All its elements were discussed initially when President Pohamba got the parties to agree to the Windhoek Declaration in Namibia.
“There was also the Victoria Falls agreement and the one in Pretoria. It has been a combination of all these efforts,” he said.
“No single act – as you would know from history – really is the one silver bullet that produces the most positive result. It is various acts, various discussions, various people that add up to the outcome that we have.”
No doubt. But all the agreements he cited had specific clauses and dates on which parliament should be re-opened, but that had not happened as the Lesotho politicians continued with their childish squabbles.
No one who has closely watched the turmoil here, which heightened when the army launched an attempted coup on August 30, and forced Thabane to flee to South Africa, would quite agree with Ramaphosa’s humility. It seems he indeed brought the silver bullet.
But maybe Ramaphosa is also wise to be modest. Because, even though parliament has finally re-opened after many attempts and while all sides seem to be keeping their promises, including not to hold a no-confidence vote in Thabane, many challenges still lie ahead.
The fact that Ramaphosa will be back this week to continue babysitting the Lesotho politicians is evidence of that.
One of the biggest problems is that the renegade Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) commander Kennedy Tlali Kamoli is still refusing to relinquish command despite being fired by Thabane.
This poses a serious security threat to the elections.
As a result parliament re-opened on Friday under heavy South African police guard without the usual pomp and fanfare of salutes and guards of honour from neatly clad LDF members that normally accompany King Letsie III on this occasion.
Except for a few guarding cabinet ministers from the LCD which supports Kamoli, the soldiers were absent, as was Kamoli himself.
The LDF and the Lesotho Mounted Police Service, which supports Thabane, are still locked in a cold war, which occasionally heats up as when they recently exchanged gunfire in a battle to control the premises of the main Lesotho National Broadcasting Service.
In his speech to formally open parliament, King Letsie, a constitutional monarch who is normally punctilious about not interfering, nonetheless felt the need to urge his country’s politicians to stop their partisan bickering and focus on advancing national interests.
Ramaphosa insisted the security situation was being dealt with and was confident it would be resolved. He said parliament would only debate Letsie’s speech, the budget for the elections and any matters relating to the elections, before dissolving in December so the country may prepare for elections.
If Ramaphosa manages to keep these politicians under control until the February elections, the final stage in the declaration he has brokered, that will confirm his genius as a negotiator.
Independent Foreign Service