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Names are important in our daily lives. They are not just labels used for the owners, but have cultural and traditional connotations in the African context. Names are used to identify their bearers. Names are cryptic, terse statements that act as discourses expressing people's life experiences. To Africans, the meanings of personal names include the name-bearers' and name-givers' aspirations, anxieties and goals. This article uses sociocultural theory with the aim to analyse the influence of Afrikaans on personal names given to Basotho in South Africa. This article followed a qualitative research approach and a case study design, where purposive sampling was used to collect data through semi-structured interviews with four people who identify as Basotho. Content analysis was used to look at the data. This article comes to the conclusion that the names Oupa, Ouma, Papi, and Mamikie are given in honour of parents and grandparents since the Basotho believe that they cannot use the name of an elderly person, especially those that have passed away. Such names are also given based on such families' belief that their deceased family members live on through their children, hence naming them after the deceased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates the role played by culture in shaping the individual's construction of the meaning and experience of illness. It shows how culture plays a significant part in providing valuable insights into an individual's lived experiences and their perceptions of what constitutes their physical, psychological and/or emotional afflictions. It reveals that Basotho patients express cultural beliefs through idiomatic forms which merely allude to the real nature of their illness(es), and some Sesotho vocabulary that may be difficult to understand, especially when talking about sexually transmitted illnesses or conditions. The results show that cultural differences and taboo topics surrounding sexuality were a major cause of the communication barriers between patients and health care professionals. The article highlights that the cultural and social constructions of the people's illness experiences offer a valuable window into the unique design and complex nature of their value and belief systems that shape their everyday behaviours and constructions of and reactions to illness. It argues that these value and belief systems have the potential to yield significant insights into the nature or essence of the patients' cultural explanatory representations of their illness experiences. The article fills the gap that exists vis-a-vis the impact of subjective experiences and social constructions of health and illness among Basotho adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is propelled by the observation that although Basotho accordion music artists have contributed much to the Basotho's lives through their music, it seems little has been done to focus on individual artists to unpack each and every artist's music. Our conviction is that artists are individuals who have their own style, diction, themes and prowess. Therefore, this study intends to focus on Puseletso Seema's selected songs to find out how the Basotho receive and utilise them and how her music impacts on their lives. This study is framed within Africana womanism and indigenous knowledge system to highlight the framework's attributes through Puseletso Seema's accordion music. It is a qualitative study and uses secondary data. It analyses four purposely selected songs that merit the notion of interest in this study to reveal specific features of Africana womanism. The study's findings reveal that Puseletso Seema manages to encourage, motivate and show strategies that can be used to empower Basotho women through her songs. The songs further help to preserve Basotho culture and empower Basotho women to navigate through patriarchal culture and social structures. Contribution: This article confirms that Basotho accordion musicians contribute positively to the Basotho's lives. Therefore, it is imperative that each artist's music be recognised as expressions of individual creativity by unpacking it to find out how it contributes to the promotion of a desired society considering that music is one of the important factors that influence the society's life. The high unemployment rate among the Basotho justifies the need to find more strategies that can be used to encourage citizens to empower themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores a history of self-organisation among the Basotho traders in Lesotho's colonial and post-colonial commerce from the 1870s to the 2010s. Using historical sources, the article argues that Basotho's forms of self-organisation – voluntary business associations and co-operatives – are indispensable in their persistent struggle for economic democracy. Under colonial (1870s–1966) and post-colonial (1966–2010s) conditions of poverty, exclusion and authoritarianism, their forms of self-organisation, outside state intervention, blends their economic and political aspirations to have a meaningful say and participation in the economic affairs of their country. Their associational life illuminates particularised normative forms of humanism embedded in the historic and social fabric of their society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study questions the existence of the proverb Lebitso lebe ke seromo [A bad name is an omen], which has been used by Basotho from time immemorial. This proverb shows that giving a child a bad name is a disadvantage to the child; however, Basotho named and continue to give children unpleasant names. These names stigmatise the name bearers and make one feel unwanted and detested by the family and the society they belong to. The result of this is a bitter, unsympathetic, insensitive and self-centred child. The question is whether Basotho's intentions when formulating this proverb were to curse the name bearers or the so-called illegitimate children who are given these names, or to conscientise the name givers to be careful when naming children. This emanates from the fact that they know very well how a bad name affects the bearer. The researcher has been collecting and documenting these names from 2010 to date. This article aims to discuss the different names given to the so-called illegitimate child, abandoned, rejected and unwelcome children, as they are the ones who are mostly given these bad names. This article further investigates the reasons why these names were given to the child and who named the child. The effect these names have on their bearer and the behaviour resulting from such names will be discussed. This article will finally challenge the proverb Lebitso lebe ke seromo. This study will adopt onomastics and discourse analysis to analyse and interpret data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study sought to determine the influence of Basotho culture in the persistent use of corporal punishment in Lesotho schools. Lesotho legally abolished the use of corporal punishment in schools. Semistructured interviews were used to collect data from head-teachers and parents while focus group discussions were used with the learners. Data were analyzed using the thematic approach. Results revealed that corporal punishment was considered a norm within the schools and Basotho society. Proverbs were used to justify its use on learners. The study recommends concerted efforts by key stakeholders in enforcing the laws that proscribe corporal punishment in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lesotho-South Africa border is regarded as highly porous with many Basotho migrants seizing work and educational opportunities in South Africa, while simultaneously maintaining strong ties to family members, businesses, and land in Lesotho. The fact that Sesotho is spoken on both sides of the border is one of the particular factors that has made it possible for people to move back and forth with relative ease. The border nevertheless remains an important political and socio-cultural barrier in the lives of those crossing it. While some have managed to acquire the permits that enable them to cross the border freely and take up formal work, others occupy a precarious legal status, which limits their housing and employment prospects. Moreover, the lives of all African migrants in South Africa have been affected by growing xenophobic violence in recent years. This has reinforced distinctions between insiders and outsiders, and limited the opportunities migrants have to experience belonging to South African society. Despite these emerging dynamics, the ways in which the border is perceived by migrants--as both a physical barrier between countries and as a social barrier distinguishing peoples--has yet to be explored. Drawing on narrative interviews conducted with Basotho migrants living in Bloemfontein, South Africa in a variety of legal and employment circumstances, this paper aims to highlight the meaning of the border in the migrants' day-to-day lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two Late Iron Age sites in the Madikwe Reserve yielded a new pottery facies. Now known as Madikwe, this sixteenth century style was produced by Western Sotho-Tswana in an area later recalled in oral traditions as their origin centre. Traditions also remember a troubled period caused by severe drought and famine, leading to the widespread burning of whole villages. In addition to burnt houses, the two sites yielded evidence for the secondary refinement of copper ores mined in the near vicinity. Lithic dumps, one behind a furnace, attest to direct interaction with foragers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article seeks to correct the common perception that bohadi is paid as a bride price. It argues that the misuse of language, significantly distorts meaning, resulting in misunderstanding of its original true meaning. The purpose of this article is to argue that the Basotho principle monyala ka pedi effectively reflects that bohadi is not paid, but given, as an expression of gratitude and as a symbol of respect for culture. We argue that African ontology becomes more prominent in bohadi negotiations. Therefore, it is unthinkable that the ancestors would be excluded when the quantum of bohadi is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In pre-colonial times, the lives of the Basotho were uncomplicated and education was informal in nature. The way of preserving history, religion, ideas, values, norms and traditions was by means of oral transmission in the form of stories, songs, dance, and by imitation and plays. When Britain colonised different parts of Africa, the indigenous people were forced to adapt to the new rulers, and this included denying Africans their cultural identities. During this process, the Africans began to change their customs until they became more Europeanised. This left people torn between the two ways of living—in a traditional African lifestyle or by adopting the new modern European lifestyle. However, this does not take away the sense of not belonging. For this reason, Maboea (1987), in his anthologyTlhaka ya Basotho,reacts to the discourse of colonisation, especially within the Basotho culture. Some of his poems deal with issues of de-colonisation and he appeals to the Basotho for the revival of their cultural identity. Basotho cultural identity seems to have imitated European cultural identity in matters such as language and culture, naming and religion. Maboea (1987) confronts the arrogance of Eurocentrism and asserts the importance of Afrocentrism to revive the Basotho culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional healing predates mainstream clinical healing in Lesotho and the world over. Chief Mohlomi was one of the well-known traditional healers of the Basotho nation at its inception. Since then, traditional healers have been the mainstay of healing and wellbeing in Lesotho. However, traditional healing has not been well documented or perceived as a meaningful career in Lesotho. This article explores 'calling' as a career among Basotho traditional healers. The article links ancestral naming to the career identity and calling of traditional healers. An interpretative phenomenological analysis of 16 audio recordings representing a convenience sample of traditional healers was conducted over a period of two months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thomas Mofolo’s literary output belongs to a plethora of discourses which address the meaning of self-identification in colonial and precolonial settings. Focusing on all three novels by Mofolo, the main aim of this article is to demonstrate how he constructs the meaning of identity through the narratives of land, humanistic values and nationhood. Reference is made to national debates and the realities of Lesotho in the nineteenth century that underpin the structure of these narratives. The article highlights Mofolo’s insistence on botho, a humanistic value in Basotho society portrayed as an age-old indigenous consciousness antecedent to Christianity and Western influences. In Pitseng (1910) and Moeti oa Bochabela (1907), Mofolo substantiates botho’s significance through a depiction of heroism, faith and a cultural fusion that entails a shifting of loyalties between Sesotho culture, on the one hand, and Christian and Western values on the other. In Chaka (1925), the author intertwines references to Sotho and Nguni cultures to rationalise the meaning of botho as the basis of individual and social identity. Consequently, the article demonstrates how Mofolo’s works implicitly translate aspects of botho consciousness into a social, religious, economic and political practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thomas Mofolo is a renowned twentieth century writer who emerged in Lesotho as a product of the spread of missionary education. Written in Sesotho, his works have been translated into English over time. Etymologically, the word “effect” in the title refers to a phenomenon or an observable fact or occurrence that assumes the effects of a norm. The word has connotations of positive expectation, standard, measure and yardstick in determining the reciprocal influence of between past and present, old and new in Basotho imaginative production. This article sets out to determine the impact of Thomas Mofolo’s role as a precursor to, or predecessor of Lesotho literature in general. The idea is to measure whether we can speak of a “Mofolo effect” in both the origins and ascendancy of Lesotho literature in English in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes mellitus (DM) belongs to the group of five leading important diseases causing death globally and remains a major health problem in Africa. A number of factors such as poverty, poor eating habit, and hormonal imbalance are responsible for the occurrence of the disease. It poses a major health challenge in Africa continent today and the prevalence continues to increase at an alarming rate. Various treatment options particularly the usage of herbs have been effective against diabetes because they have no adverse effects. Interestingly, South Africa, especially the Basotho tribe, is blessed with numerous medicinal plants whose usage in the treatment of DM has been effective since the conventional drugs are expensive and often unaffordable. The present study attempted to update the various scientific evidence on the twenty-three (23) plants originating from different parts of the world but widely used by the Sotho people in the management of DM. Asteraceae topped the list of sixteen (16) plant families and remained the most investigated according to this review. Although limited information was obtained on the antidiabetic activities of these plants, it is however anticipated that government parastatals and scientific communities will pay more attention to these plants in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a distributional corpus analysis of the Northern Sotho noun and gender system. The aim is twofold: first, to assess whether the existing descriptions of the noun class system in Northern Sotho are corroborated by information provided by the analysis of a large electronic corpus for this language, with specific reference to singular-plural pairings, and second, to present a number of novel visualisation aids to characterise a noun class system (in a radar diagram) and a noun gender system (using a two-directional weighted representation) for Northern Sotho in particular, and for any Bantu language in general. The findings include the discovery of two new genders in Northern Sotho (i.e. class pairs 1/6 and 3/10), and also indicate that the Northern Sotho noun class system, and by extension any one for Bantu, should be seen as dynamic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Joseph Orpen's 1874 Cape Monthly Magazine article relating the testimony of Qing, a San man in the Maloti Mountains, is a bedrock text of southern San cosmology. For the last few decades, this article has been the subject of intense scrutiny by rock art researchers and archaeologists studying hunter-gatherer societies. Recently, scholars have questioned whether Orpen's encounter with Qing has been appropriately contextualised, citing lingering uncertainties over Orpen's motivations and biases that may have informed the article. This paper addresses these concerns through examination of Orpen's archival corpus. It draws on new archival data to articulate the development of Orpen's personal politics, research motives, and interpersonal relationships within Cape knowledge networks. When examined more broadly, Orpen's intellectual career appears primarily concerned with native history and land title rather than a specifically philological or anthropological agenda, and his encounter with Qing as having been overshadowed by his dedication to represent the interests of Basotho sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Northern Sotho, a separate colour lexicon is distinguished, containing terms which are believed to be used exclusively as colour terms to describe not only the colours, but also the colour patterning found among domestic animals, particularly cattle. According to current literature, the use of these terms is restricted to the description of cattle and/or other domestic animals. This study, which is corpus-based, investigates the metaphorical extension of these terms which widens their descriptive scope to include objects other than cattle. It is furthermore argued that these terms have unique grammatical features, found nowhere else in the grammatical system of Northern Sotho. Lastly, the metaphoric link between these colour and colour-pattern terms and similar sounding words designating other animals, birds or everyday objects is investigated. It is concluded that this particular colour lexicon is of an ambivalent nature: on the one hand it is an indigenous knowledge system which is clearly in decline, mostly due to non-linguistic factors, but simultaneously, its ability to be extended to the description of other objects points towards a certain measure of vitality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a decade's worth of service-learning trips to Lesotho, this paper focuses on the role of nightly discussion sessions in achieving our learning goals. It also examines how we carried out our community-service projects in conjunction with class material to help students move past negative stereotypes and objectification of the Basotho (an ethnic group whose ancestors have lived in southern Africa since around the fifth century) toward a greater understanding of the Basotho as people. During our community service, students often expressed feelings of pity for the Basotho as well as a sense of frustration at why they do not do more to help themselves. This paper will also address how the trip helps students move from feelings of pity to that of empathy, as well as creating an environment that helps break down the barriers between those performing community service and the communities they are working with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Basotho's views on sexuality within a theological context as well as the conflict between Christianity and cultural beliefs. Most Basotho have strong opinions on the subject of sexuality and those views undoubtedly emanate from the Basotho culture, which makes it necessary to evaluate them. The issue of sexuality is always a topic of discussion amongst people and did not go unnoticed by church fathers, like Augustine. Thomas Aquinas also expressed an interest in the topic in the Middle-Ages. Likewise, reformers of the calibre of Martin Luther and John Calvin espoused views on sexuality. It is clear that the aforementioned theologians made a marked contribution toward shaping the current views on sexuality, especially amongst theologians of this age and this is the reason for revisiting their views in this article examining the Basotho view on sexuality. In examining Basotho views on sexuality, the writer of this article will then discuss and evaluate the views of Augustine, Aquinas, Luther and Calvin with special reference to sexual intercourse, sexual intercourse within matrimony, extramarital sexual intercourse and also the unmarried state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Basotho struggles for land and belonging in colonial Zimbabwe from the 1930s to the 1950s. It argues that as non-indigenous Africans in colonial Zimbabwe with no claim to land in reserves the Basotho saw ownership of freehold land as a key strategy in their construction of a sense of belonging. The centrality of land among the Basotho had a great impact on inheritance disputes within the members of the community. Drawing on archival files and court cases dealing with inheritance (including disputes involving land) in the Basotho community, the article argues that, through seeking further legal recourse in colonial courts, individual members of the community were able to challenge accepted customary laws and contest gender inequalities as well as to negotiate space within the community and the colonial state at large. This impacted on other inheritance disputes involving land as some of the Basotho inheritance cases set legal precedencies – thus illuminating the complex struggles among Purchase Areas farmers. The article feeds into the growing literature on land and inheritance during the colonial period. It also uses court cases as a prism through which women's struggles against patriarchy and the colonial state can be unravelled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Lesotho, men have lower HIV testing rates, less contact with HIV clinical settings and less knowledge of HIV prevention than women. However, women's HIV prevalence has consistently remained higher than men's. This paper explores gender norms, sexual decision-making and perceptions of HIV among a sample of Basotho men and women in order to understand how these factors influence HIV testing and prevention. A total of 200 women and 30 men were interviewed in Lesotho between April and July 2011. Participants reported reluctance among women to share information about HIV prevention and testing with men, and resistance of men to engage with testing and/or prevention services. Findings demonstrate a critical need for educational initiatives for men, among other strategies, to engage men with HIV testing and prevention. This study highlights how gender issues shape perceptions of HIV and sexual decision-making and underlines the importance of engaging men along with women in HIV prevention efforts. More studies are needed to determine the most effective strategies to inform and engage men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the art of women in the South Sotho (Sesotho) culture in Lesotho, focusing on the the power connected to female spaces within the context of highly gendered social responsibilities. Topics include the concept of the relative "hotness" and "coolness" of African peoples and its social manifestation, the social impact of the "covert" world of female authority and power and its expression in the visual arts, and consideration of the home as a female space and its role in the arts and the social influence of women.

This article investigates and provides guidelines to the negative impact of mahadi on the Basotho youth before they may marry. It is important to note that marriage is one of the main parts of the life cycle amongst the Basotho and not only joins a man and a woman together, but is also considered to unite the members of the respective families of the married couple into one family. This union of two families comes into effect when the process of negotiation of the mahadi is initiated. The negotiation for mahadi is, in other words, the first stage of bonding two families together. In the hope of gaining a better understanding and results, the writer searched for a qualitative method to conduct the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses accordion songs of the Basotho people as small narratives of self-identity. The songs are constructions of the way the singers think of and experience themselves as Basotho, of their home country, Lesotho. They communicate this message to their listeners. The focus of the constructed self includes parentage and ancestry, clan totems and chiefs, social conditions, places where the artists were born and grew up, marriage problems, and experiences as migrant labourers in South Africa. These songs foster individual, national and collective identity in Lesotho. It is observed that in all the narratives, the singers tell about their associations and social relationships relating to shared locations, language and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the history of relations between Basuto chiefdoms and Great Britain. Emphasis is given to a visit by a deputation of chiefs from the Batlokoa and Bakhulukwe to discuss the dispossession of lands in the Orange River Colony. Topics discussed include the military service of indigenous people during the Anglo-Boer War of 1881, grievances presented to the Colonial Office in London, England, and a meeting between Lord Elgin and chiefs Josiah T. Gumede and Sylvester Williams.

A disjuncture in the description of persists between practitioners of the genre, deemed custodians of Northern Sotho culture, and some scholars. Drawing from extensive fieldwork and consultation of literature from established scholars, this article presents a descriptive analysis of the dinaka/kiba song-dance performative compound. It does so by looking into the constituent elements of the genre, particularly its attendant nomenclature, instrument playing techniques and the technology used in instrument making. It was found that by investing in unravelling the deep lying philosophical underpinnings, as well as gaining insight into the functions of genre, chiefly embedded within the attendant indigenous languages systems, a contextually sound and accurate description of the genre is possible. This article, therefore, apart from challenging a few misrepresentations surrounding scholarly definitions, seeks to provide a practitioner-informed, analytical and comprehensive definition of dinaka/kiba as a song-dance performative compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the 1907 reception in Great Britain for visiting South African Basuto Chiefs from the Batlokoa and Bakhulukwe clans petitioning to challenge their dispossession from the Orange River Colony (ORC) lands in South Africa. Topics include support for the delegation by British humanitarian group League of Universal Brotherhood and Native Races Association (LUB), letters and documents about the event, and the role of Trinidadian councilor and activist Henry Sylvester Williams.

There are newly coined contemporary Sesotho proverbs and traditional proverbs that have been altered to suit modernity. These proverbs are being used in everyday language by Basotho. However, the main challenge is to establish whether they have the same form as traditional proverbs. Proverbs have a fixed structure that distinguishes them from other genres of oral literature. This implies that a proverb almost always appears in the same form and for contemporary Sesotho proverbs to be considered as proverbs, they have to adhere to this fixed structure. However, it seems like newer research is showing that proverbs are being coined from time to time and the fixed form of proverbs is no longer regarded as important as it used to be in the past. This paper aimed to establish whether contemporary Sesotho proverbs qualify as proverbs as far as structure is concerned. A comparative approach between traditional proverbs and contemporary proverbs was followed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African migrants played a crucial role in the early history of Southern Rhodesia. A number of them were already literate and had converted to Christianity before they came to Southern Rhodesia. For example, a number of the members of the Basotho1 community in Victoria and Ndanga District had worked with missionaries of the Dutch Reformed Church, Berlin Missionary Society and the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society (PEMS) and had acquired a level of education before they settled in the country. They had also adopted the plough, and were among the first Africans to own land on a freehold basis. As a result of this, colonial administrators often viewed them as progressive or ‘more advanced natives’ as compared to the indigenous Africans. This article seeks to show how, after helping Rev. A.A. Louw in establishing Morgenster Mission in Victoria District and spreading Christianity in the surrounding areas, Basotho evangelists settled and established themselves in the area. It analyses how these Basotho were incorporated into the colonial capitalist system and also why colonial administrators viewed them as ‘progressive Africans’. It also analyses the centrality of land, Christianity and the ideology of being ‘progressive Africans’ in the community's strategies for entitlement and prosperity in Southern Rhodesia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Highlights: [•] We used an instrumental single case study design. [•] The subject was a three and a half year-old HIV positive Sotho-speaking orphan. [•] We explored the use of sandplay therapy to bridge the language barrier. [•] Her emotional, social and communicative functioning improved remarkably. [•] Sandplay therapy may be useful for vulnerable children with pre-verbal trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional marriage in Lesotho is a very important aspect of social establishment in the Basotho culture. It is not just an act between two individuals, but is an extended family and community affair. This paper examines the way the Basotho conduct their traditional marriage, with emphasis on the language used during the process. The paper shows that in Lesotho there is an acceptable age, which is 18, for a girl to be considered ready for marriage, or at which she should get married. However, this paper reveals that practically this is not the case because some girls get married even before the age of sixteen or even younger, hence there is a cow called 'tebeletso' (awaiting cow) in the process of marriage. The paper also discloses that 'bohali' (bride price) can be paid at any time after the first marriage negotiations have taken place and this may continue even after the marriage proper. Although it is no longer a dominant practice for parents to arrange marriages, in this paper, it is proven that family members still play a central role in marriage negotiations. Most importantly, the paper reveals that traditional marriage in Lesotho is done in different stages and, as such, the language used for negotiation is different to suit the demands of each stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction draws attention to the value of a parallel reading of the separately authored articles which follow. It shows how a consideration of historical and archaeological research across the regional divide of south-east and north-west southern Africa unsettles a number of disciplinary orthodoxies, notably notions of distinct Nguni and Sotho identities. Complex political arrangements relating to differential access to economic resources resulted in the active maintenance, within political configurations across the two regions, of distinctly different identities. These were often rooted in earlier identities and histories and then glossed in new ways. Our collaboration focuses on how the past was reworked in the light of new political-economic relations. We use the notion of ‘cultural inheritances’ to refer to ideas about the past and past identities and practices which enjoyed a certain continuity over time even as they were refashioned under changing conditions. We identify the operation of shared logics across the region which governed how this happened. While our work emphasises the significance of relationships between political dynamics and cultural inheritances at the level of the polity and its divisions, we also discuss their operation in the more intimate settings of households and homesteads. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper finds that the decline in the numbers of Basotho1 migrant mine workers since the 1990s was not market induced but rather a result of political and policy changes in South Africa. As a result of these changes, household income throughout rural Lesotho dropped significantly. As current migrant households generally do not have skilled workers or operate family businesses, the paper makes a case for training in skills and entrepreneurship as a means of utilizing Lesotho's comparative advantages to generate domestic employment and absorb retrenched and prospective migrant mine workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates and attempts to provide answers from pastoral perspectives regarding the perception the Basotho have on the issue of traditional purification. The aim of this article is to find out why the bereaved, that have not yet been purified traditionally, are not allowed to be part of certain activities, like going to the church and also performing certain community activities. The investigation was conducted by way of qualitative research. Three different Sotho Reformed congregations were selected, namely one from the Northern-Sotho speaking congregations, one from the Setswana speaking congregations and one from the Southern-Sesotho speaking congregations. Respondents included one minister, one older man, one older woman, and two young members including a man and a woman from each congregation in order to get a broader perspective. For the sake of confidentiality the names of the congregations and participants remained anonymous. The results of the article indicate that the rights of the bereaved to perform certain duties in the community are reduced till such time that they are purified traditionally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the effects of development policy on gender and food security. It analyses how one policy instituted by a large-scale multi-dam development project, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), affected women's food security in the rural highlands of Lesotho, southern Africa. This was a mitigation policy, aiming to ensure that the LHWP did not negatively impact on the people living in the area where the dams were constructed. However, ethnographic research suggests that the policy itself reinforced and exacerbated gender inequalities that affected women's ability to secure food, and put women at risk of food insecurity within their households. Once again we see that gender issues must be central to the constitution and implementation of development projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

De Hoop is a large cave, located on the western slopes of the Platberg mountain, in the eastern Free State. The excavated archaeological sequence dates back to more than three and a half thousand years with a hiatus in occupation between the older levels and the re-occupation of the cave in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The nineteenth-century levels display a change in material culture from a post-classic Wilton assemblage, which is associated with hunter-gatherers, to one that includes Sotho ceramics and other farmer items, as well as a few European artefacts. The historical accounts of Stow, Norton, Casalis, Arbousset and Daumas, and Kirby suggest that the social and political processes which took place in this area during the tumultuous nineteenth century were complex. De Hoop Cave is situated in the middle of this contested area. By examining both the archaeological sequence from De Hoop and the available oral histories and missionary accounts, issues of interaction and the social dislocations and realignments that characterised this period are considered. Based on the aforesaid, I propose that Sotho farmers were living in this cave with San hunter-gatherers for a period during one of the many conflict situations that characterised the Caledon Valley in the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the changing political significance of Christianity in the interior of southern Africa during the 1850s, focusing primarily on the views of Tswana rulers, converts and others within their communities, and secondarily on attempts by European missionaries to reconcile their service both to African communities and to European expansion, which compelled them to articulate a rationale for their civilising mission. The article historicises the process whereby Christianity lost its initial universalistic ideals and became politicised by African-European competition, with divine sanction being claimed by one side or another. That process was accompanied by considerable debate and doubt: the separation of believers from unbelievers, faith from works and souls from bodies was far from clear or certain. Although African converts would ultimately continue to pursue the promise of equality offered by Christian teachings, they would do so more as individuals than as intact African communities, surrendering their bodies to European rule while entrusting their souls to the care of God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the course of experimental study of related linguistic areas, Traill, Khumalo and Fridjhon (1987), Giannini and Toscano (1988) and Best, McRoberts and Goodell (2001) suggest that the classification of [?] as an implosive in Zulu is not accurate as this sound exhibits the traits of an explosive. Using the experimental framework, this article assesses the accuracy of this assertion. The corpus for this investigation is based on Doke's (1926) set of minimal pairs containing the Zulu explosive [b] and implosive [?] sounds. A qualitative and quantitative examination of the parameters burst amplitude, Voice Onset Time (VOT) and closure duration (CD) are used to determine whether the Zulu [?] is indeed an implosive. The results thereof find in favour of Doke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Son of Man, Son of David, Lord (Kyrios), Rabbi and Messiah. These are some of the names used by Christians today and even by the people from the era of Jesus Christ to address him or to communicate with him. Others use them because they were taught that this is the way you talk about him or to him. People use all these different names to describe Jesus Christ according to their understanding, knowledge, trust and belief in him. This article will describe how the Sotho, who are African Christians, from the township of Mohlakeng in Randfontein, know, understand, trust and believe in Jesus Christ according to the title of Great Ancestor. Views of the inhabitants of Mohlakeng are used to describe the complexity of the issue. This article discusses what the meaning of the concept of ancestor entails and determines whether Jesus can indeed be referred to as Ancestor. There are different answers to this question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis and HIV as well as the progression of lung function impairment and silicosis among Basotho gold miners from Lesotho. The study was conducted to 779 Basotho miners through follow-up, symptom review, HIV test, spirometry, chest radiography, and physical examination. It discloses the high rates of mortality, HIV infection, and pulmonary tuberculosis as well as the evidence of continuing lung function loss among miners.

Bridging the somewhat arbitrary divide between history and archaeology remains a critical aim of the study of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in the South African interior. Despite the prejudice inherent in the oral records collected by state ethnologist P.L. Breutz and others, it is argued that they still play a fundamental role in ascribing a historical identity to the countless Late Iron Age stone-walled sites that have been attributed to Tswana speakers. The focus of this study is on the settlement sequence of a Tlokwa branch along the Kgetleng (Elands) River in the Rustenburg region of present-day North West Province. More specifically, it examines the evidence that identifies the stone ruins on Vlakfontein and adjoining farms as Marothodi, the capital of the Rustenburg Tlokwa, prior to their dispersal during the difaqane. Though it was renowned for its copper industry and constituted one of the largest African towns in the interior prior to the difaqane, Marothodi has largely faded from historical memory. This article explores the historical roots of the Tlokwa, their settlement history at Marothodi, and their interaction with near neighbours, such as the Fokeng, the Tlhako and the Kgatla. It highlights the potential contribution of an integrated historical and archaeological study of late precolonial Tswana society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The goal of this study was to compare four Sesotho-speaking clinical groups in South Africa concerning the manifestation of mental disorders. Methods. The participants were Sesotho speakers suffering from major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and substance abuse. The participants (N=407) were assessed and diagnosed by a multi-professional team. A clinical interview was then conducted with each participant and the symptomatology compared with the DSM-IV-TR criteria. Results. Differences among the four clinical groups were found regarding age, gender, marital status, substance abuse and aggressive behavior. Although the symptomatology of all four groups overlapped with that of their counterparts in Western cultures, some differences were noted. For example, delusions and hallucinations seem to be more prevalent in the Sesotho speakers with major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders than in Westernized groups. Traditional medicine remains the first treatment of choice for a significant number of the participants. It is recommended that traditional medicine should be incorporated into the national health system. Conclusion. In multicultural societies such as South Africa, further research regarding cultural differences in the clinical manifestation of mental disorders is urgently needed in order to make the necessary provision for cultural uniqueness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the implication of silicosis and pulmonary tuberculosis to goldminers in Basotho in South Africa. Eventhough gold is found in hard rock with high silica content, the silica dust exposure in the absence of silicosis and silicosis are risk factors for tuberculosis (TB). Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a strong risk factor for TB and these are commonly manifested among miners with silicosis and HIV. Studies show that silica dust exposure, smoking and TB are in turn risk factors for chronic airflow limitation. They used the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease and found that 21.9% had evidence of airflow obstruction.

Women's life stories are centred on a series of constructions providing a general overview about who they are. They also provide clear perspectives about how cultural and patriarchal values and norms influence their choices and decisions in the way they live. In Lesotho, most women are still victims of culture and patriarchy. These two components are reinforced by their family backgrounds and their social environments. Consequently, women find themselves in a dilemma in terms of life strategies because they are pulled in different directions by contradictory issues and ideologies present in their lives. They are consciously forced to construct identities that match with their ways of living in their own specific social and cultural environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is about the economic conditions in Lesotho before and after South Africa did away with apartheid. Throughout much of the 20th century South Africa hired Basotho men from Lesotho to work in the mines, but after apartheid ended, South Africa began hiring more of its own black citizens in the mines. In 1998, Basotho women were hired by Taiwanese textile companies.

Inversion structures, in which the logical subject appears in postverbal position, are a wide-spread phenomenon among Bantu languages. The paper presents an overview of inversion structures in Bantu languages and describes in detail the inversion constructions in the Southern Bantu language Northern Sotho. It argues that Northern Sotho shows only one inversion structure, namely the impersonal construction. I propose that constructions which arguably constitute cases of locative inversion in neighboring languages can be analysed as impersonal constructions with preposed locative constituents. Evidence from morphosyntax, syntax, intonation and discourse-pragmatics is investigated. The paper supports the claim made by Demuth (1990) and Baker (1992) for Southern Sotho. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]