In the chronicles that is dramatic Lesotho, a new episode was released this week, when our statesman and head of government, the Right Honourable Prime Minister went to the Ministry of Health Headquarters in Maseru to receive what would comprise a fraction of the country’s population in 36 000 units of the Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccine is none other than the Astrazaneca which was rejected by our only neighbour the Republic of South Africa.
One would be forced to think that having a more powerful neighbour than one is, makes one to be a helpless and hopeless beggar in the eyes of the powerful neighbour, to a point that even the neighbour’s trash becomes less of trash but becomes a valued treasure.
The powerful neighbour in this scenario is the Republic of South Africa while the begging, trash eating one is the Kingdome of Lesotho.
It is quite incredible to notice that while we play mimic to SA in almost everything it does, we seem to have selective amnesia when it comes to things that matter, even in the midst of our parroting ways.
A number of scenarios can be listed as examples of how we have often opted to overlook our own abilities and worth as a people for wanting to be seen to be doing things the South African way.
Back in the days, when our Senior National Soccer team was still caught up in fray of admiration for their South African counterparts, the result of a clash between the two could be guessed, because our boys would feel on cloud nine having to touch and feel their tv celebrities in real life. We have since gone past that.
Now it is the local entertainers who are groupies to their SA colleagues, most of whom they could easily outsmart any day, but just because they see them on Tv.
There used to be a time when we bought only SA assembled vehicles before the advent of the Japanese pre-owned ones. These cars are obtainable through and via SA ports of entry yet they cannot be registered there because they are trash. The same trash we will take copious amounts of.
Today the in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, as nations busy themselves looking for a vaccine to control the crisis, we have lingered on our laurels waiting for handouts. So South Africa went ahead and acquired the Altrazaneca vaccine which was later rejected as ineffective. Even before the South Africans finished saying that they did not want the vaccine, we were already shrieking at how we want it. Now a South African truck has just delivered 36 000 of those things under the guise of coming straight from India. What a coincidence that around the time that SA doesn’t want its Altrazaneca we have the same vaccine delivered by a South African truck yet it comes straight from India. Why did it not jet in the way Jack Ma’s face masks? It just incredible.