We need pockets of excellence

I wrote the bulk of this opinion piece whilst on a visit to a tiny tourist town named Dullstroom in Mpumalanga. I was staying at a resort named Dunkeld Country and Equestrian Estate.

Look, Dullstroom is what Morija and Roma should’ve been had we had visionary leaders. Clarens doesn’t even come close to its beauty. No, I tell you when it comes to tourism, we are just farting in the wind. Ntate Tšola would’ve said, “We are pissing in the wind”.

You know, I really got disappointed on my recent trip to Afri-Ski over the past Easter weekend. It had been a couple of years since I had visited the ‘ski resort’ and was expecting to see the place oozing with new activities and new buildings.

Well, to my disappointment, it was more of the same. More like what Lesotho politicians are to the electorate. More of the same, if not worse.
No, Afri-Ski needs a proper capital injection. It needs new buildings, a variety of restaurants and accommodation. Not negating the much-needed pine-trees to beautify the place. It really makes one wonder what the people at LTDC are paid to do. Hmmm? What is their excuse since we live in a country of excuses? I guess it’s the budget.

In any case, let me not depress you with boring things and tell you about Mpumalanga. Wow! I tell you, the minute you cross into Witbank (eMalehleni) on the N4 highway, you just smell money.

I mean, you don’t have to ask whether people in Witbank have money or not. You see it. Unlike Maseru, once you arrive at the border post, you just smell poverty, desperation and hopelessness. It’s a fact.

But one thing that is evident in Mpumalanga is the business activity from all the coal mines and Eskom power plants. There’s just so much economic activity. It’s booming.

I went via a shopping mall named Highveld Mall in Witbank that is located along the N4 highway. Jesus! It is massive. About twice the size of Maseru Mall and it was packed. Good tenant mix, beautiful clothes and very good food. Look, if you want good clothes (suits, English blazers and shoes), Witbank is the place to go.

However, one thing that was a bit disappointing with Witbank was its Central Business District (CBD). It doesn’t have tall buildings and lacks fundamental characteristics of a modern city. Witbank is still a mining town at

heart. It reminds me of Kimberley, bar the tall buildings.
But having said that, it still beats Maseru ten-nil, when it comes to economic activity, variety of businesses (car dealerships) and shopping centres and the size of the town. I still don’t understand why Maseru Mall struggles up to this point. Is it a matter of lack of disposable income? Are Basotho that broke?

So, fast forward to the time I was sitting on the veranda in Mpumalanga and admiring the beauty of Dunkeld Country Estate. On my third glass of my red wine, a random thought crossed my mind.
This random thought said, “Actually, Mathibeli Mokhuthu has a valid point.” I still can’t tell whether it was the red wine talking or just plain common sense. In any case Mokhothu is on the money.

You know, when Mokhothu said he’s going to build highways in the sky, a similar thought once crossed my mind. But you see, the difference here is that Mokhothu was busy preaching about luxuries of a Lamborghini to a bunch of pedestrians. Some thoughts are better off untold because people will think you are high on ganja.

Mokhothu should have said, ‘we need a highway (expressway) that connects the Airport and the border post. We also need to extend the rail-way to the airport and have a new container-terminal near the Moshoeshoe One International Airport.’

The rest would be left to our imagination to fill in the blanks on how the expressway would look like but you first start by planting a seed.

My vision is of a highway fly-over that starts as you descend towards Thabong Circle. Because of the change in levels (gradient), this could be a perfect opportunity to have a fly-over, across Thabong Circle and all the way to Lithabaneng.

As you drive-down to Ha-Motšoeneng, on the Main South-One Road, towards the city, there is another change in gradient (slope) that could allow for a fly-over to land from Thabong. A similar plan can be activated as one descends towards Lakeside, along the main North-One Road.

But this brings me to the topic at hand. Mokhothu must have seen that Maseru lacks some characteristics of a modern city. A modern city is characterised by tall buildings and modern road networks. Have you seen how modern Nairobi and Cairo are at the moment?

But why is Maseru still called a capital city? Does it have any characteristics of a modern capital city? What defines a capital city?

This topic was inspired by a Nigerian television series I last saw on Netflix, named Blood Sisters. Yes, every now and then, I’m called in to watch Netflix and a channel named Moja-Love.

What fascinated me the most about this movie/series named Blood-Sisters is how Nigerian film producers are now following in the foot-steps of the American movie producers, to showcase city-landmarks such as tower buildings, highways and tower-bridges. One that really struck me was the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge. A masterpiece!

From what I saw on TV, Lagos seems to be going somewhere and forward and upwards. I saw beautiful high-rise hotel buildings.

This reminded me of what one architect from Bloemfontein once told me. He said, “Lagos is not all perfect but it has pockets of excellence.” Meaning, they have parts that are ultra-nice.

This is what Sandton is for the city of Johannesburg. One place that is very clean, with beautiful buildings and a modern road network and Maseru should achieve this. Maseru just needs ‘one’ clean street. One!

A street where investors and tourists can visit just to be wowed by its beauty, to take their breath away. At the moment, there’s none of that. The Cathedral Circle precinct looks as dingy as hell. Grown men can be seen urinating on the fence of the Cathedral in broad day-light. What is that?

But Maseru has a chance to redeem itself and the strategy is not that complicated. All we need is to create pockets (precinct) that can be developed to perfection. What does this mean?

We need an area with a cluster of new buildings that will work hand-in hand to create a precinct (area). For example, we could start with the Cathedral Circle. Since this is where Maseru City started, this could be a starting point for creating a cluster of new buildings surrounding the Cathedral.

But one thing that needs to go urgently, within the Cathedral Circle precinct, is the hideous clutter of billboards. This is a clutter of super-sized billboards that are competing for space. No, this is not right but why is the MCC allowing this?

The Cathedral Circle precinct could also have a suspended fly-over bridge over the Cathedral Bridge from the Mpilo Boulevard linking the Main North-One Road (A1). Have you realised that the roads joining the Cathedral

Circle are not symmetrical to the Cathedral and the circle has five-legs, hence the constant traffic-jams?

On the other hand, there’s also an opportunity to revive, the Makoanyane Square precinct. There was already a step in the right direction with the development of Moposo House and the Post Office Building. The square could be completed with new buildings at Maseru Central Charge Office, British Council building (UNESCO) and Maseru Book Centre.

Another area that is desperate for re-development is the LNDC Centre precinct combined with Victoria Hotel. This can unlock a mega-development that can revive the city. But one thing that needs to happen is for the LNDC to let-go off the LNDC Centre. Why not sell it to the private sector? Why allow a prime asset to rot in your hands? Why?

In closing, I wish we could open our eyes as a country and see low-hanging opportunities right in front of our eyes. Some of the opportunities are not complicated but require courage and determination.

With great determination, a lot can be achieved. But one thing that we need to learn is that, no investor will inject capital in a capital city that looks dingy. What TY looks like, to be precise!

Investment likes certainty. Investment likes stability. Investment favours cleanliness. We need to try hard and harder to attract investment and this can only be achieved by boosting investor confidence. This is what Botswana and eSwatini have mastered.

King Mswati was criticised when he constructed the mega-highway connecting Mbabane to Manzini. The IMF warned him against the plan because it was not feasible. But he bulldozed and eSwatini now has a modern expressway that is admired by investors. This is what courage is all about.

When driving on the expressway, you won’t see even one shack or scrap-yard in Mbabane. Not even one mokh’ukh’u along the main highway to Manzini. Never! But hoba Maseru ke ha tali, ho tletse mekh’ukh’u (Maseru is full of uncontrollable people, it is full of shacks) in the Main Street of the capital city. Look at the mess in Roma, outside the National University of Lesotho.

Let’s sweep our streets and keep them clean. Even if it means sweeping them twice a day. We can’t be sitting on dirty streets and still expect investors to inject their hard earned money.

Let’s work hard to improve our public image and impress potential investors and tourists.

‘Mako Bohloa