Lesotho -- Social life and customs; Sotho (African people)
With regard to the land, it is all practically in the possession of the
Paramount Chief; but each householder has a right to as much as he can
cultivate, and each chief owns large tracts of country, subject, of
course, to the approval of the Paramount Chief, who has power to give or
take away as he deems desirable, though certain of the principal chiefs,
notably the sons of old Molapo, are too powerful for him to interfere
with, unless supported by the Government.
Pasture is free to all, but certain tracts of pasturage are marked off
by each chief as winter grazing, other as summer grazing, and cattle
found feeding on one or the other out of season are impounded until the
owner has been caught and reprimanded or fined, according to the
enormity of his offence.
There are no rates nor land taxes, neither can the land be sold; but the
people give a certain amount of help to their chief in the cultivation
of his land, and the Paramount Chief has power to summon the whole
population to his aid, did he desire to do so.
The chief conducts all his legal affairs at the entrance of the
"Khotla," or court-house, a large, empty hut situated in the centre of
the village, with a big open space in front, where the people assemble
to hear and to give evidence. In the doorway, on a mat or kaross, the
chief sits, with his head-man beside him, while on either hand are
seated his councillors. No women are ever allowed to be present. Any one
can have a hearing, no matter how trivial his evidence or grievance may
be, and in any serious offence the longer the list of witnesses the
better every one is pleased. It is no unusual thing for a trial to last
several days, and the interest is as keen at the end as at the
commencement.
When a chief dies he is succeeded by the eldest son of his principal
wife. Should she have no sons, then the eldest son of the second wife
succeeds, unless for some exceptional reason a special son is chosen in
his father's lifetime and presented to the people as their future chief.
A woman rarely succeeds to the chieftainship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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