Machesetsa Mofomobe
Hon. Machesetsa Mofomobe is a Lesotho politician, Member of Parliament and leader of the Basotho National Party (BNP). He has held several senior public offices, including Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, and Minister of Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing.
His experience, particularly in the Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs portfolios, has informed his longstanding engagement with immigration, cross-border movement and the relationship between Lesotho and South Africa. As Minister of Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing, he championed greater participation by Basotho in the national economy and stronger support for locally owned businesses and cooperatives.
Mofomobe was elected leader of the BNP in 2021 and has established himself as an outspoken opposition leader and advocate on governance, economic development and issues affecting Basotho nationals. He leads a party whose history is intertwined with one of Southern Africa's defining chapters. During the apartheid era, successive BNP governments maintained Lesotho's long tradition of offering refuge to South African political exiles, despite sustained political, economic and military pressure from the apartheid regime. Thousands of South Africans fleeing political persecution found sanctuary in Lesotho, reinforcing the Kingdom's place in the region's liberation history.
In November 2024, Mofomobe sought to make formal submissions to the South African Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs on the Immigration Amendment Bill, calling for South Africa's immigration framework to recognise Lesotho's unique geographical and socio-economic relationship with South Africa. He was prevented from presenting the submission after political intervention shortly before he was due to travel to Cape Town. His proposed submission called for alternatives to deportation for Basotho nationals who contravene South African immigration laws, arguing that existing measures fail to account for Lesotho's exceptional circumstances as a country entirely surrounded by South Africa
