LADYBRAND...lies at the foot of the amphitheatre formed by the Platberg amid picturesque sandstone outcrops and grasslands. Established as a frontier post in 1867 in territory conquered from the Basotho, the settlement was named after Lady Catherina Brand, wife of Sir Christoffel Brand, the first Speaker of the Cape Legislative Assembly, and the mother of Johannes Brand, President of the Free State. Situated close to Maseru, Ladybrand is the main gateway to Lesotho and is also an important agricultural and trading centre. In common with other eastern Free State towns, the town has several splendid sandstone buildings, among them the Dutch Reformed Church, the old Magistrate’s Court and the secondary school (1905). Overlooking the town is The Stables, a 30-m-high rock crevice used by the Boers to stable their horses during the Basotho War of 1858. There are also numerous rock painting sites in and around the town, among them Tripolitania in the Tandjiesberg. The Catherina Brand Museum contains the fossil remains of a dinosaur known as Euskelosaurus and a display on the printing industry in the Free State. |
LESOTHOAlso known as the Mountain Kingdom and the Kingdom in the Sky, Lesotho is the only country in the world with all its territory above 1 000 m. Except for the Lowlands in the west, it is an extremely rugged land, characterised by high mountains dissected by deep river valleys. Lesotho is home to the Basotho people, who emerged as a nation between 1815 and 1820 when Moshoeshoe united the remnants of various Sesotho-speaking tribes dispersed by the Mfecane. Disputes with the Voortrekkers over land led to three wars between 1858 and 1867, and in March 1868 Basotholand was annexed by the British. When the territory’s borders were demarcated, the area west of the Caledon River, referred to by the Basotho as the Conquered Territory, was excluded. In 1884 Basotholand became a High Commission territory, and at independence, on 4 October 1966, changed its name to Lesotho. Blankets were first imported into Basotholand in the 1860s, and still form an integral part of Basotho life. During ceremonies such as the circumcision of boys, a blanket indicates whether a man is married or not, and blankets are also worn on special occasions. Another hallmark of the Basotho is the distinctive conical straw hat, known variously as tlhoro, mokorotlo or molianyeo. It has been suggested that the hat owes its shape to Qiloane, a cone-shaped mountain near Moshoeshoe’s stronghold of Thaba Bosiu. Although Lesotho’s road network has improved considerably during the last 20 years, the Basotho pony is still an important means of transport in the remote mountain villages. Small-stock farming with angora goats and sheep is the main economic activity, while maize and vegetables are cultivated in river valleys. Much of the country’s income is, however, derived from migrant labour, although the massive Lesotho Highlands Water Project, which began in 1991, has provided a much-needed economic boost to this poor and landlocked country. |
MASERUMaseru, the capital of Lesotho, lies on the eastern bank of the Mohokare, or Caledon River, and its Sesotho name is translated as ‘the place of red sandstone’. The city developed around a police camp that was established in 1869 by Commandant JH Bowker, Agent of the British High Commissioner for South Africa. Situated at a ford across the river, a bustling trading centre soon sprung up. During the Gun War (1880–81), the settlement came under frequent attack, and several outlying buildings were set alight when Maseru was attacked in October 1880. In 1884, when the first Resident Commissioner, Colonel Marshall Clarke, was appointed, Maseru became the administrative centre for Basotholand. The town’s development accelerated with the opening of a railway line and a road bridge across the Caledon River in December 1905. In the 1960s, many South Africans were attracted to Maseru when casinos – prohibited in South Africa at that time – opened in the capital. However, tourist numbers dropped dramatically following the introduction of legal gambling in the ‘independent’ homelands. Political instability in the latter half of 1998 resulted in the burning of several buildings in Maseru. |
TEYATEYANENGAlso known simply as TY, Teyateyaneng owes its name to the Teja-Tejane River, a name variously interpreted as meaning ‘the winding little river’, or ‘quicksands’. Prior to becoming the headquarters of the Berea district of Basotholand (Lesotho), it was preceded by two earlier settlements, both known as Advanced Post. A site for a new district headquarters was agreed on between the Resident Commissioner, Sir Godfrey Lagden, and Chief Masopha in February 1886. The deal was struck after the Chief indicated that he was willing to pay taxes on condition that he had his own district headquarters. A further condition was that he could recruit police from his own people. TY is famous for its weaving industry, and there are two weaving workshops where fine rugs and tapestries 6 are produced from pure mohair sheared from angora goats in the Maloti Mountains. |
HLOTSE...was founded in 1876 when Major Charles Bell, one of four magistrates of Basotholand, moved the seat of his magistracy to this spot. The town is the headquarters of the Leribe district, but, confusingly, Hlotse was often called Leribe in the past. In the years following its establishment, the town was besieged during the Gun War (1880–81). Of historic interest is a tower, the only remaining part of the fort built by Bell, and the Anglican Church built by the Reverend John Widdicombe in 1877. A few kilometres north is the Leribe Mission, founded in 1859 by the French missionary, François Coillard. Not to be missed are the dinosaur tracks in the bed of the Subeng River, north of Hlotse, where two rows of about 23 tracks made by a five-toed dinosaur are imprinted in the rock. |
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