NOT for nothing is SA’s chaotic military invasion of Lesotho, codenamed "Operation Boleas" by the SANDF, now popularly dubbed even among the ANC as "Operation Balls-Up." Sent in to put down a supposed coup against an unpopular government, for SA the messy intervention has proved a public relations blunder of the first magnitude: not least because of the unrelieved though little reported human and economic misery it has inflicted on some of the poorest people in the world.

For the 1,7 million Basotho, this is the greatest catastrophe their mountain kingdom has suffered in more than a century. While this was obviously never intended, the fact remains that the hamhanded SA intervention - described by one ambassador as "the biggest cockup I have ever seen" - has brought total ruin to the fragile Lesotho economy. Coinciding with a global financial flameout, prospects for the country’s inhabitants are now grim indeed.

Central Maseru, producing half the country’s GDP, has been reduced to charred rubble. Some 400 shops, businesses, factories and homes in Maseru and across the territory were looted and burnt. In a country where a job is the most prized gift anyone can possess, we have succeeded in throwing thousands of people out of work. The tax base, such as it was, has been pretty well destroyed. Food prices have already started to climb.

Two months ago, with considerable Taiwanese industrial investment, there were signs that the country was at last attaining a thin prosperity. Now Lesotho is again well and truly back in the global dole queue. Nor has the SA intervention done anything for political stability. Prime Minister Paralitha Mosisili’s inept government, always unpopular, is now bitterly resented for having invited the South Africans in.

By no means surprisingly, there is throughout Lesotho an enormous disillusion with South Africa - even hatred, as I found out when researching this piece. Some Maseru business people refused to speak to me at all, either on or off the record and against guarantees of no attribution. One woman business executive said curtly: "I don’t speak to South Africans." Whether the Mandela government accepts this or not, in Lesotho SA is seen as a bully boy which beats up its neighbours and leaves them to foot the bill.

it could take up to four or five years to restore Maseru’s infrastructure.

Who, if anyone, is going to foot this bill? Mandela has rejected all South African culpability, stating that the Basotho themselves were responsible for destroying their capital. Insurance companies also dispute liability, citing military action as invalidating claims.

Frasers, the oldest trading company in the country, dating back to around 1880, had eight of their outlets destroyed. As with all the others their insurers, Guardian National, are disputing payout. Financially stable, Frasers will no doubt recover but even so rebuilding and restocking is expected to take around six months. Even if they could afford to do so, many outside companies might have second thoughts about returning to Lesotho.

South African-owned shops, supermarkets and factories were the main target of the rampaging mobs. Lesotho does not have its own major retailers. SA companies have been responsible for virtually all fresh food and produce, furniture and clothing sold in the country. How many of these companies will return is not yet clear.

The tourist industry, one of the territory’s main foreign currency earners, has taken a tremendous beating. Many South Africans are now fearful of crossing the border and it will take some time to erase that uneasiness. Another problem that could threaten tourism is the distinct possibility of a new bandit class. Many Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) rebels fled into the mountains, taking large quantities of arms with them.

Against all this, SA’s impartiality as a negotiating partner is now hopelessly compromised. Although it is easy to be wise after the event, we could very easily have solved what was still a relatively minor problem - a petty power struggle between two opposed political parties - simply by closing the border posts to the landlocked country for a few days. Instead, we chose armed action. That’s going to prove awkward for everybody.

SA’s role, both in the buildup and in the invasion itself, decisively contributed to the destruction: and cannot be shrugged off. The Lesotho opposition - and, it would seem, a majority of its people - have throughout maintained that last May’s election in which the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy took 78 out of 80 seats was rigged, the results fraudulent.