Butha-Buthe
The small passport office in Butha-Buthe is drowning under a mountain of unfinished work. Along the week, officials revealed that a shocking 4,338 passports are still waiting to be printed, leaving thousands of Basotho stranded without travel documents.
The crisis came to light when Parliament’s Law and Public Safety Committee visited the office to see conditions for themselves. What they found was a system under pressure, workers stretched thin and applicants losing hope.
Passport officer Khotso Sepitla did not mince his words. He told the committee that the demand for passports has far outstripped the office’s capacity.
“Every district is given a printing quota of between 20 and 100 passports each day,” Sepitla explained.
“But here in Botha-Bothe, we have more than 500 people applying daily, while we can only process about 30. We have no choice but to prioritize emergencies, like mine workers who need to travel for work or patients who must go abroad for medical treatment. Everyone else has to wait.”
The result, he said, is a crushing backlog that stretches back more than a year.
“Some people who applied as far back as April 2024 are still waiting,” he admitted.
For those desperate to travel, the delays have become more than an inconvenience. Many have turned to illegal crossings at porous border points with South Africa, a dangerous option, but often their only way out.
Sepitla also pointed to another headache which is uncollected passports.
“A lot of people apply, but then they go back to South Africa without waiting for the documents. When the passports are ready, their relatives or friends try to collect them. That creates security risks, because the person who applied is not always the one who shows up,” he said.
But the problems at Butha-Buthe are not only about printing limits and absentee applicants. The office itself is in a state of decay.
‘Mamokholoane Mohloboli, another officer, painted a grim picture of working conditions.
“We are working in broken walls, sitting on faulty chairs and tables, and standing on worn-out floor mats. Even our computers are unreliable, breaking down in the middle of the workday. It makes our jobs even more stressful,” she said.
Her testimony drew murmurs from the parliamentary committee, some of whom shook their heads as they looked around the office.
Committee member Mothejoa Metsing responded with concern. He acknowledged that many of the issues raised, especially passport shortages, are tied to central government systems.
“We cannot ignore these challenges. We will engage the relevant ministries to find solutions. This backlog is not just Butha-Buthe’s problem; it affects the whole country,” he said.
The passport delays have become a national crisis. They were even raised in a recent meeting of the Free State and Lesotho Cross-Border Crime Prevention Forum in Phoku, where participants warned that porous borders are being exploited as frustrated Basotho cross illegally into South Africa.
For now, however, the Butha-Buthe passport office is left to fight a losing battle against the flood of applications. Staff continue to serve hundreds of people each day, knowing that most will walk away disappointed.
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