{"id":16804,"date":"2022-07-01T09:55:24","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T09:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho"},"modified":"2022-07-01T10:35:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T10:35:48","slug":"mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho","title":{"rendered":"Mines Minister pushes empowerment for Basotho"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>THE Minister of Mining Serialong Qoo says he is working hard to create a new generation of Basotho millionaires in the mining industry. Qoo said this last week at a mining indaba with Basotho who want to mine diamonds on a small-scale following the enactment of the Small Scale Mining Act last year.
\nHe said their goal is to see Basotho engage in mining activities on a large scale. \u201cWe want to ensure that more Basotho own shares in large scale mining,\u201d he said.
\nQoo said they fought long and hard to ensure that the Act was passed in parliament, He said they also hope to create more jobs in the mining sector. Qoo said during the Covid-19 lockdown, the mining industry contributed more revenue towards the economy of Lesotho.
\n\u201cWe realised that it has the potential of spurring the economy,\u201d he said.
\nHe said they realised that after Basotho were denied the chance to mine on a small-scale some decades ago, the industry\u2019s contribution to the economy declined.
\n\u201cIt is crucial for Basotho to make a living out of their minerals,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cHence we are announcing this Act as effective,\u201d he said, adding that Basotho can now start mining on a small-scale.
\nHe said they will work with different ministries, departments and councils to ensure that Basotho acquire licences. He said this is open to every Mosotho.
\nThe registration to acquire the licences will be conducted by the councils and village chiefs. He said they will go around all the districts of Lesotho to identify places where they can locate Basotho.
\nHe said the ministry will further conduct training programmes for such Basotho who hold licences. Qoo said all the diamonds mined by Basotho will be collected for auction in the country.
\nDiamonds mined at a grander scale in the country are exported to Antwerp, Belgium, for auctioning. \u201cWe are working hard to ensure that all the minerals are auctioned in the country, including those from large-scale mining,\u201d he said.
\nThe Chief Executive Officer of the Lesotho Diamond Academy, Relebohile Molefe, appealed to Basotho to allow this new venture to be led by the youths. She said this has been his late father\u2019s dream to see leaders engaging Basotho in this industry without political favours.<\/p>\n

The late Mpalipali Molefe, who was the All Basotho Convention (ABC)\u2019s \u2019Maliepetsane MP, is remembered for his passion for diamond beneficiation when he started the Lesotho Diamond Academy.
\nA small scale miner, Lebohang Ramone, said it has been more than 15 years since Basotho were denied a chance to mine on a small scale. He said they have been fighting for the enactment of a law that would allow small-scale mining.
\n\u201cThe struggle continued until the issue was politicised,\u201d Ramone said. However, he said the sad truth about this is that there are more Basotho who are being killed each day in the illegal mines in South Africa.
\nHe mentioned the case of an old Mosotho woman who was caught mining in South Africa yet Lesotho is rich in minerals. \u201cThis was so unfair to Basotho,\u201d he said. He applauded the hard work done by Qoo to ensure that the diamonds are auctioned in the country.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE Minister of Mining Serialong Qoo says he is working hard to create a new generation of Basotho millionaires in the mining industry. Qoo said this last week at a mining indaba with Basotho who want to mine diamonds on a small-scale following the enactment of the Small Scale Mining Act last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":16803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,7,8,16],"tags":[233,246,686,245],"class_list":["post-16804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-economy","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nMines Minister pushes empowerment for Basotho - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE Minister of Mining Serialong Qoo says he is working hard to create a new generation of Basotho millionaires in the m ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mines Minister pushes empowerment for Basotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE Minister of Mining Serialong Qoo says he is working hard to create a new generation of Basotho millionaires in the m ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-01T09:55:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-01T10:35:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_19.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1531\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1019\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mines Minister pushes empowerment for Basotho\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-01T09:55:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-01T10:35:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho\"},\"wordCount\":553,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_19.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"economy\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mines-minister-pushes-empowerment-for-basotho\",\"name\":\"Mines Minister pushes empowerment for Basotho - 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