I am Ntate Thabo Molapo, from Ha Abia in Maseru. My working life began back in 1986, when I went to South Africa to work as a miner. During my career, I spent about 22 years at Harmony Gold Mine in Virginia, in the Free State Province. Throughout all those years, I made sure to send money home every month that money built my house and paid the school fees for my four children.
I never had formal savings in a bank, but I was wise with what I had. I put my money into livestock and into building my home instead. Today, I own eight head of cattle and twenty sheep, and I sell them whenever a big expense comes up that I can't cover any other way.
In 2018, I retired and came back home to Lesotho. I receive a government pension of M800 (800 maloti) a month.
But is it enough? No, it's not. M800 is not enough to buy groceries, medication, or cover electricity costs. Some months, I have to ask my children for money, some in Maseru and some in South Africa, just to get by.
My biggest expenses are food, paraffin or electricity, and getting to the clinic when I need to. Winter is the hardest time for me I need firewood, I need warm clothes, and the little I have from my pension just doesn't stretch far enough to cover all of it.