Lesotho–South Africa relations for apartheid South Africa. There is no reason for us to exist any longer as a nation with its own currency and army". Ntate Manyanye, a charity director, cited the AIDS epidemic as a reason why Lesotho could no longer survive as an independent country: "Lesotho is fighting for survival. We have a population of about 1.9 million but there may be as many as 400,000 AIDS orphans among us. Life expectancy has fallen to 34. We are desperate". Lesotho–South Africa relations Lesotho–South Africa relations refers to the current and historical bilateral relations of South Africa and Lesotho. Lesotho, which
History of Lesotho 1855. The country set up diplomatic channels and acquired guns for use against the encroaching Europeans and the Korana people. Territorial conflicts with both British and Boer settlers arose periodically, including Moshoeshoe's notable victory over the Boers in the Free State–Basotho War, but the final war in 1867 with an appeal to Queen Victoria, who agreed to make Basutoland a British suzerainty. In 1869, the British signed a treaty at Aliwal with the Boers that defined the boundaries of Basutoland and later Lesotho, which by ceding the western territories effectively reduced Moshoeshoe's kingdom to half its previous size. The extent