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JONATHAN, JOSEPH LEABUA
Jonathan Molapo and a grandson of Moshoeshoe I, founder of that nation. He was educated at mission schools before relocating to South Africa to clerk in the mining industry. In 1937 he came home at the urging of an uncle and joined the local civil service. Jonathan proved adept as a bureaucrat and he rose rapidly through the ranks. By 1951 he was assessor to Judicial Commissioner Patrick Duncan, who convinced him to enter politics. In 1956 Jonathan was elected to the National Council, receiving the rank of chief. Basutoland was chafing under British administration and began pressing for political independence. In 1959 Jonathan founded the Basutoland National Party (BNP) as a direct alternative to the ruling Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), which he found too left-leaning. He was appointed to the Legislative Council where he spoke out on behalf of civil rights for women and the sizable Indian community. Jonathan then ventured to London in 1964 as part of a delegation tasked with negotiating independence from England; the first steps toward responsible self-governance were taken the following year. The BNP carried the general elections in July 1965, although Jonathan failed in his own district. He subsequently won a by-election and, as head of the BNP, became prime minister with portfolios of external affairs, defense, and internal security. Basutoland became independent in October 1966 and renamed itself Lesotho. As a political leader Jonathan was pragmatic and realistic. He was painfully aware that his little nation was entirely surrounded by the apartheid regime of South Africa, and harmonious relations were therefore paramount to survival. He thus became the first black leader to confer with Prime Minister BALTHAZAR VORSTER in 1967, despite criticism from fellow African states. Jonathan was accused of being a South African puppet by fellow citizens and at the next national elections in 1970, it became apparent that the BNP was going to lose. Jonathan abruptly halted the vote count, suspended the constitution, and instituted a state of emergency. He also had King Moshoeshoe II arrested for interfering in national politics and exiled to Holland. The king was allowed back home only after he agreed to accept a ceremonial role. The rival BCP leadership went underground, where they conducted a guerrilla insurgency for many years. But for the time being Jonathan’s rule was absolute; he ruled by decree and remained in power for another 15 years.
Jonathan came to resent South Africa’s arrogance toward Lesotho, and his pride stiffened. To display his independence from Pretoria, he established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, North Korea, and Communist China in 1982. He also began allowing political refugees from apartheid to settle in Lesotho. The South African government, which regarded such refugees as members of the outlawed African National Congress (ANC), began applying economic sanctions and blockades against Lesotho to encourage better behavior. When this failed to nudge Jonathan toward compliance, Pretoria launched punitive military raids against ANC guerrillas hiding there. Jonathan, once reviled as a puppet, suddenly gained new stature among leaders within the Organization of African Unity (OAU) for his defiance. But South Africa continued holding all the cards. After a spate of ANC guerrilla attacks in December 1985 South Africa imposed a complete economic blockade of Lesotho. The nation’s economy was halted for three weeks, until the army intervened and deposed Jonathan in a bloodless coup on January 20, 1986. Military rule persisted until the return of constitutional law in 1994. Out of power and closely watched, Jonathan retired to his farm and avoided public life. He died there on April 5, 1987, a leader who wielded enormous influence in his nation for 21 years. Further Reading Bardill, John E. Lesotho: Dilemmas of Dependence in Southern Africa. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1985. Ferguson, James. The Anti-Politics Machine: ‘Development,’ Democratization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1994. Frank, Lawrence. “Khama and Jonathan: Leadership Strategies in Contemporary Southern Africa.” Journal of Developing Areas 14, no. 2 (1981): 173–198. Gay, John. Citizen Perceptions of Democracy, Governance and Political Crisis in Lesotho. East Lansing: Michigan State University, Department of Political Science, 2000. Machobane, L. B. D. J. Government and Change in Lesotho, 1880–1966: A Study of Political Institutions. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.