BASUTOLAND SNOWS

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28904, 26 May 1959, Page 13

BASUTOLAND SNOWS

Starvation Threat DURBAN, May 24 Africans are threatened with starvation —and some may already have frozen to death—after the heaviest snowfalls for the last 30 years in the Mokhotlong district of the British Protectorate of Basutoland. Mr David Alexander, director of the Mokhotlong Mountain Transport ‘Company, said this today after he had flown out of the area. Mr Alexander said snow lay to eight feet deep in the area. Animals had frozen to death and it was feared that some Basutos might have suffered a similar fate. All communication w*ith eastBasutoland and the outside world had been cut off except by light aircraft, Mr Alexander said. The 9000 ft Sani Pass, the only supply route between Natal and Basutoland, was obliterated by snow and was not likely to be opened for three weeks. Mr Alexander said the situation in Mokhotlong was critical as all bulk food supplies, such as maize meal, sugar and fuel, were carried up the pass by jeep and pack animals. He intended to ask the Natal provincial authorities in South Africa to provide mechanical aids to reopen the pass.