Zimbabwe News Update
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Amh is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: the zimbabwe independent, a business weekly online edition. For generations, basotho, a southern african nation founded by king moshoeshoe i in the early 1800s, have lived by the principle of botho: a deep sense of humanity expressed through the act of uplifting others. Whether by taking in a neighbour’s child through school, building community centres such as schools and churches together, or pooling personal savings to assist the sick or bury the dead, giving has always been woven into the nation’s moral fabric.
Long before “philanthropy” entered african development discourse, basotho were already practising it quietly, collectively or individually, and often without any desire for recognition. Today, that same spirit is being redefined by a new generation of philanthropists whose giving is increasingly structured, strategic, and wider in scale. Among those defining lesotho grown philanthropy are sam matekane, businessman-turned-politician, and james motlatsi, a veteran mining executive and labour leader whose journey from lesotho’s mohale’s hoek district to south africa’s gold mines embodies the power of diaspora giving. Together, their stories mirror the evolution of philanthropy in lesotho from private generosity to public good.
Before his political pursuits and eventual ascension to lesotho’s highest administrative office in 2022, matekane was already a household name, not only for his business empire, the matekane group of companies (mgc), but for his visible acts of giving through the sam matekane foundation (smf).
