FEMALE LABOUR IN THE TEXTILE AND CLOTHING INDUSTRY OF LESOTHO

Abstract

LESOTHO CURRENTLY CONFRONTS uncertainties relating to its very future as an autonomous economy and polity. As the impetus of 'democratisation' spreads throughout the African continent and, more specifically, as important political changes in South Africa become increasingly probable, prospects for this small, landlocked southern African country become tenuous and the subject of intense debate. In the past, Lesotho attempted to draft an economic development policy which drew on its own circumstantial advantages, leading to the emergence of an infant clothing and textile industry based almost entirely on female labour. An incident in May 1991, which left 38 people dead and damage estimated at ?400 million, revealed the fragility of that policy and its susceptibility to dislocation.l More importantly, it served as a marker of difficulties which may become far more severe as the regional political and economic situation evolves. The destruction in May 1991, which led to a curfew being imposed and heavily armed para-military units being brought into Maseru, was largely selective. It was aimed at expatriates and expatriate owned businesses, with Taiwanese and Chinese entrepreneurs particular targets. Much of it centred on industrial areas, one of which had to be sealed off following the actions of predominantly female factory workers. Loss of life was largely a result of the intervention of the police and military, at the direction of a government anxious to stem the loss of expatriate confidence. The return to civilian rule in the elections of March 1993 signalled, it is to be hoped, the demise of a state so readily able to apply military force to ensure industrial discipline.2 This, coupled with the possible elimination of prevailing comparative advantage, associated with Lesotho's freedom from sanctions imposed against the Apartheid state, its relatively 'cheap' labour and preferential access to EC and US markets, suggests the need for a rethinking of