Traumatic experiences suffered by Mathebe residents during the 1970 state of emergency in Lesotho

Abstract

This study documents the traumatic experiences of civilians who were victimised for being supporters of the opposition Basotholand Congress Party (BCP) during the 1970 state of emergency in Lesotho. These traumatic experiences are missing in the published literature which has focused on how the leaders of the opposition parties, the political elites as well as the King suffered. In this study the focus is on the traumatic human suffering visited on these civilians whose crime was to belong to the BCP. Through the use of personal testimonies, the missing voice of these civilians in the history of the state of emergency is documented. Mathebe village (Mafeteng district) is used as a case study because it is where extreme acts of political violence against BCP supporters were perpetrated by the Police Mobile Unit (PMU) and the Basotho National Party (BNP) Youth League. These extreme acts of political violence negatively affected these supporters physically, materially and psychologically. Physically, they were assaulted, arrested and tortured while in detention. Materially, they lost their property through arson while psychologically, they experienced extreme emotions of fear and anxiety and were mentally tortured. The consequences of all these traumatic experiences were many and varied. They include separation/division of families, homelessness, loss of time, job loss leading to loss of income and famine, incurrence of costs such as legal expenses and costs related to the rebuilding of burned houses, political intolerance, and hospitalisation to mention but a few. This study concludes by observing that the authoritarian rule that began in Lesotho with the declaration of the 1970 state of emergency more negatively affected the supporters of the BCP whose only ‘crime’ was not only membership of the party but also the fact that through their vote, they propelled it to victory in the 1970 January general elections. It also draws attention to the need for more localised studies, using oral history, personal testimonies and memory studies in other areas of the country so that, in the future, we will have a full picture of the negative effects of 1970 state of emergency which may help in healing the entire Basotho nation