Pretoria – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will return to Lesotho today ahead of the reconvening of that country's Parliament by King Letsie III.
Deputy President Ramaphosa, who is the Southern African Development Community (SADC) facilitator in Lesotho, will stay in the mountain kingdom until Friday when Parliament is reconvened.
Lesotho’s Parliament will resume against the background of the recently signed Maseru Facilitation Declaration on 2 October, which was facilitated by Deputy President Ramaphosa and signed by all Lesotho's political parties.
In terms of the declaration, King Letsie is to reconvene Parliament on 17 October to discuss the budget and all other related matters regarding the holding of elections.
The declaration further provides that Parliament is to be dissolved at the beginning of December to prepare for the holding of the National General Elections.
The elections are scheduled for the end of February 2015 on a date to be set by King Letsie.
During his visit, Deputy President Ramaphosa will continue to be supported in his regional facilitation efforts by a team of SADC experts and members of the Secretariat from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, led by SADC Deputy Executive Secretary Dr Themba Mhlongo.
A political crisis in Lesotho resulted in an attempted coup in August, which saw Prime Minister Thomas Thabane fleeing to South Africa. Thabane has since returned to Lesotho under SADC protection. – SAnews.gov.za
