Well done, Dr Matlanyane!

When I started my first business venture, many moons ago, fresh from high school, I received a piece of advice that still makes me laugh up to this day.

My good friend Tšepo Thabisi told me of an opportunity (‘skoti’) where I could buy a BMW Z3, at the time, for as little as R4 000. “Four thousand Rands?” I asked. “Yes, four thousand for a Z3.

Only if you go to an auction,” he said.

Hmmm! This was an interesting insight. I could buy a BMW Z3 at an auction for R4 000! No maan, I’m heading straight to an auction.

I had made a bit of cash and needed a round-around car for the office.

So, my thinking was that, if a Z3 costs around R4 000, surely I could get a smaller vehicle for about R2 000.

As I said, I had a bit of money and went straight to Standard Bank (city branch) to cash a cheque to the tune of M20 000/Rands and drove straight to Pretoria to an auction house with my cousin Mahlelebe Letsie (Mr Mahlelebe).

When we got to Pretoria, excitement was high. Yes, we were going to buy a vehicle for R2 000.

So, the auction started and we sat on the auditorium style benches.

The cars were then paraded in front of potential buyers.

We immediately spotted a white Volkswagen Citi Golf. It was shining and the tyres were polished.

I immediately said, “There’s our car!” Mr Mahlelebe nodded.

“Yes, that’s the one.” So, the bidding started. The first car was called in and the bidding started but our eyes were set on the white Citi Golf.

The moment finally arrived and it was time to bid. The starting price was R1 500. Man!

There was sudden interest in this vehicle. There were a couple of hands that went up.

We had to make a counter-bid. We shot up to R2 500. There was a counter offer.

The game went on and on until we finally sealed the deal and the auctioneer said, “Sold, for R8 500.

Well, not exactly what we anticipated but

R8 000 was still a hell of a bargain.

We were happy.

The time to fetch the vehicle finally arrived. We went straight to the back office to sign documents and were handed the keys.

Yes, the car was ours. We now had to drive back to Lesotho. Mr Mahlalebe did the honours and drove the ‘new car’.

I led the way and drove in front.

Banna! We drove for about a kilometre and Mr Mahlalebe started flicking his lights. ‘Peke, peke, peke!’

Then I thought, “I wonder what could be wrong. I swerved to the side of the road to hear what the problem was.

Jesus! The ‘new car’ was over heating. We opened the bonnet.

Banna! I’ve never seen such a mess. We could see wires (maseka) criss-crossing a very dirty and rusty engine.

There were also rat droppings in the engine. My eyes went teary and I said, “Mona teng re rekile maseka le likhoto. Ha re khutlise koloi ena.”

Man, that car was a mess.

The bottom part of it was rust-eaten and you could see the ground when removing the carpets.

When we got back to the auction house, it was too late. The auction house was closed. Gates pad-locked with chains.

We were left with no option but to drive that rot (sebolu) to Maseru. What a painful journey.

The dim function of the headlights was also not working.

We drove with bright lights all the way. You can imagine the pain in my eyes.

I had to narrate this long story because it resonated so well with the situation the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) found itself in when it assumed power.

Yes, this horse looked so beautiful. Yes, we have been told that it has a few illnesses but no, we have the money.

We’ll take it to the doctor and it will start sprinting again.

Man-oh-man! The minute the RFP tried to ride the horse, the poor horse started limping. It has been limping since day one and showing signs of multiple organ failure.

This is the exact situation that the RFP is currently in.

There’s simply no money to run the government and the horse cannot sprint to finish the race.

I must applaud Dr Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane for being courageous to confirm what some of us had already known for years.

However, that speech was torturous to listen to. It felt like the kind of speech a doctor dishes out when you fetch your blood-results for an annual medical check-up.

Do we still go for annual medical check-ups? If not, please do.

You know, you just want the results and you are thinking, “Stop telling me about exercising and so on. Just give me the damn results!”

So, yes, Dr Matlanyane was absolutely right to give us a synopsis of the current financial situation of Lesotho.

However, the speech was very long on the ‘blame-game’. It lacked concrete facts and statistics, and it was also very weak on solutions.

By the way, where was the statistician general? Where exactly is the statistician general? Who is he/she? We should have seen him or her at the finance minister’s side.

If the government’s wage bill is such a problem, we need concrete facts on the number of employed civil servants.

How many are they? 44 000? 50 000? How much do they consume per month? 100 million?

What is the cost of running the government per month? What is the average income of a government employee per month?

We need a simple and straightforward income and expenditure statement.

When it comes to this cancer named corruption, we are where we are because of lack of patriotism.

There is no one that can stand proudly and say “I’m a corrupt patriot.” It’s either one is corrupt or patriotic. The two are mutually exclusive.

We are where we are because Basotho hate their country.

You cannot claim to love your country and, on the other hand, continue to steal from it. Never!

In fact, corruption should be a treasonable offence. It is betrayal to the country.

Citizens that love themselves subsequently love their country.

It starts with loving oneself (self-love). Look at our situation. Our country is littered with double-storeys all over and most of them are incomplete.

Some of them were abandoned because people are just too afraid to live in them.

But the public infrastructure is completely broken. The health system is “finished.”

The education system is completely paralysed. Most of the teachers can’t even spell photosynthesis to save their lives.

Look at the National University of Lesotho (NUL). It’s a bloody mess.

But what should the RFP do now that it has bought a white Citi Golf full of makeshift wires in the engine compartment?

My suggestion is:

One: Compile an income and expenditure statement and publish it before announcing the budget speech.

This will give an indication and direction to the next budget allocations.

Two: Start compiling a national balance sheet urgently. What do we own? How many vehicles do we have? How many properties do we own?

Look, if we’re talking of annual revenues of M18 billion, it means our economy is severely constipated.

M18 Billion is equivalent to US$1 billion. That’s an annual revenue of some of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies.

US$1 billion? No guys! We have to do better.

So, this means our productivity (output) is very low (GDP).

Second last point: Our country has fallen victim of two critical points — we do not export and we do not invest.

Yet, these are two crucial points to run an economy effectively!

If our economy relies heavily on textile manufacturing, construction and mining, how come we lost track of a crucial element of agricultural exports?

Am I talking of wool and mohair? No!

I’m referring to exports of fruits and fish? Why isn’t fish a staple in Lesotho yet there’s abundant water?

Lastly, Dr Matlanyane’s speech was very weak on solutions. Very weak!

Here are my solutions to turn this economy around.

One: Up-scale the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) by employing more than 3 000 youths.

Redirect those young soldiers/recruits into agricultural production. They should operate tractors and plant fruit trees.

As a matter of fact, just give the Ministry of Agriculture to the army.

They should run it as their own. The army is still respected and, in all accounts, still feared.

If the army does the physical plantation of crops, we’ll start yielding results very soon.

However, we need to plant fruit trees and export peaches, apricots, apples, oranges, etc. We also need to export fish. That is long overdue!

Last point. Implement a sovereign wealth fund as a matter of urgency.

Sell some of the assets that the government owns, through the Maseru Securities Exchange to Basotho.

Examples being, shares in Standard Lesotho Bank, Econet as well as Letšeng Diamonds.
Why not?

It will create instant wealth on the ground and Basotho people already have the will and discipline to save but no avenues to invest their savings in.

Hence, mekhatlo ea mekholisano. They should buy shares in the Brewery. Yes! Why not?

They should part own it.

Invest proceeds derived from the sale of those shares (in Standard Lesotho Bank and Letšeng Diamonds) in companies like Tesla and Amazon.

We’d earn our dividends in US dollars. We can surely live comfortably from the dividends derived from those companies (Tesla and Amazon).

Very last point. Export power to Southern Africa. If Cahora-Bassa Hydro-power dam was started in 1967 with the sole purpose of exporting power, why can’t we do the same in 2023?

We need to construct the Oxbow Hydro-electric dam for the sole purpose of exporting power to other Southern-African countries.

We can sign off-take agreements as soon as tomorrow and source loans to finance the dam.

What are we waiting for?

In conclusion, well done Dr Matlanyane. This is a bold step in the right direction.

We need more accountability and communication of the financial situation of the nation to the public.

I would also like to say well done to my new hero, Lieutenant General Mojalefa Letsoela, for his initiative to instil a culture of national pride and patriotism to the youth.

I witnessed the farewell ceremony of hundreds of young people at the Makoanyane Barracks last Friday and I said: “This is exactly what we need to fight corruption.” The love of the country!

‘Mako Bohloa