Economy of Lesotho Swaziland, Namibia, and South Africa also form a common currency and exchange control area known as the Rand Monetary Area that uses the South African rand as the common currency. In 1980, Lesotho introduced its own currency, the loti (plural: maloti). One hundred lisente equal one loti. The Loti is at par with the rand. Until the political insecurity in September 1998, Lesotho's economy had grown steadily since 1992. The riots, however, destroyed nearly 80% of commercial infrastructure in Maseru and two other major towns in the country, having a disastrous effect on the country's economy. Nonetheless, the country has
The Rand Daily Mail black newspaper "The Sowetan" described "The Rand Daily Mail" as the first white newspaper to regard blacks as human beings. Yet for most of the apartheid period (1948–1990) the paper suffered from poor management, government infiltration, and state censorship. The management often tried to replace more liberal editors with conservative ones. After the closure of "The Rand Daily Mail", some of its journalists (like Anton Harber and Irwin Manoim) pooled their severance pay to start the "Weekly Mail" (now "Mail & Guardian"), which carried on the anti-apartheid stance of its predecessor. Times Media Group held the rights to "The Rand