Revisiting a big brother’s relationship in the context of South Africa and Lesotho

Abstract

This article seeks to apprehend and highlight South Africa (SA) and Lesotho`s ties looking at political, economic and diplomatic relations at both a bilateral and multilateral level. We see Lesotho as a country that needs to be politically reformed due to the ever reoccurring political instabilities that have plagued the country over the years. As such, this article uses thematic content analysis and critical discourse approach in their broadest form, to evaluate Pretoria`s (the administrative capital of South Africa) mediation efforts in Lesotho, by comparatively assessing and appraising the 1998 Lesotho constitutional crisis and the 2014 attempted coup.