THE ongoing riots in South Africa will negatively affect the economy of Lesotho one way or the other, as the country depends entirely on SA, local economist Majakathata Mokoena Thakhisi has shown.

He said the supply chain disruption, which is happening in the neighbouring South Africa affects Lesotho directly as the latter will not be able to receive goods it needs.
Mr Mokoena Thakhisi said international trade is disrupted substantially, citing an example of Japanese vehicles en-route to Lesotho, which were burned by protesters.

He said that is a huge loss for the buyer, the supplier and country as such vehicles are never insured.
He said the Southern African Customs Unit (SACU) is also negatively affected as revenue cannot be collected.

He said a lot of Lesotho citizens work in SA and their lives are at risk as they might become targets of the rioters.

“The question is how long the protests will last as the situation might lead to a civil war and Lesotho’s economy will in turn be negatively affected. There is a need for the country to be self-sufficient in terms of food production and finding flying alternatives instead of using SA flights amongst others,” he said.