In turn, Lekhanya's government expelled African National Congress members as well as technicians from North Korea, which led to significantly better relations between the two countries.

In September 1998, South Africa led a military intervention in Lesotho in the name of SADC, after post-election rioting and rumours of a possible coup.

In August 2010, South African President Jacob Zuma led a group of investors and politicians to Lesotho, where they discussed bilateral cooperation as well as regional political developments.

[citation needed] With decolonisation, Bechuanaland and Basutoland became independent in 1966 as the Republic of Botswana and the Kingdom of Lesotho, respectively.

[5] In 2023, Lesotho's parliament debated demanding the territory of Free State and other Basotho lands from South Africa.

Their platform is based on the idea that the land of the Basotho, the main ethnic group in Lesotho, needs to be returned to the nation, given that it was taken in the 19th century by the Afrikaners.

Previous groups had attempted to contact the Queen requesting to make Lesotho a tenth province of South Africa.