THE government of Lesotho is contemplating to close some of its embassies owing to the country’s current economic status, the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations Principal Secretary Colonel Tanki Mothae has shown.

He said the government has, however not yet made the decision although as public servants, they have made recommendations to the Cabinet to consider the suggestion.
Col Mothae said the recommendations were in line with the Lesotho’s sluggish economic circumstances and the services or benefits the country gets from the countries which it has embassies in.

“Economically, we are not doing well as a country and with the budget we have been allocated this year; it is difficult to run all the embassies. We are not necessarily basing ourselves on what we benefit from some countries, but we look at the difference the services we get from those countries make in Lesotho,” he added.

He said both the Ministries of Finance and Public Service will look into how this is going to affect the commissioners’ future and international politics relations.

He said they are not going to close the embassies abruptly, adding that they will start with those whose contracts expire first until the last ones.

Commenting on the consulates in South Africa, Col Mothae said they will continue operating but the focus will be on those that have more Basotho.

He said in the past years, Klerksdorp and Welkom used to have thousands of Basotho because of the mine workers, adding however that things have changed in recent years.
“We want to leave consulates which have high numbers of Basotho within them and ensure that they offer quality services to Basotho living in South Africa,” he noted.