Pretoria - Cabinet has congratulated the people of Lesotho for their peaceful conduct during the parliamentary elections that took place on Saturday.
Cabinet also commended the country's Independent Electoral Commission and security forces in Lesotho for preparing the elections, as well as Southern African Development Community (SADC) facilitator Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa who had led efforts to peacefully resolve political challenges in the kingdom.
Lesotho went to the polls on Saturday for an early election designed to end a political impasse in the kingdom.
The election was held about two years ahead of schedule under a political deal brokered by SADC and facilitated by the SADC Observer Mission, led by Deputy President Ramaphosa, as an integral part of regional efforts to restore peace and stability in Lesotho.
"South Africa will work with the newly elected government of Lesotho to develop the economy of the two countries, the South African Region and continent as a whole," Minister responsible for Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, Jeff Radebe, told the media on Thursday following their regular fortnightly meeting.
Resources are scarce in Lesotho - a consequence of the harsh environment of the highland plateau and limited agricultural space in the lowlands.
This has led to Lesotho to be heavily dependent on South Africa - which surrounds it. Over the decades thousands of workers have been forced by the lack of job opportunities to find work at South African mines.
The Deputy President is currently in Lesotho to observe the announcement of the election results later today.
The elections were declared credible, free and fair by the various elections observer missions deployed in the country before and on the election day.
These include SADC, the African Union, Commonwealth and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA). - SAnews.gov.za
