Maseru

Maseru is the capital of the small mountain kingdom of Lesotho, in the west of the country close to the South African border, and is also the end of a branch line that links Lesotho by rail with the rest of Africa. It was from Maseru station that tens of thousands of migrant workers sought work in South Africa. Mohapeloa commemorates these journeys in other songs. Here he simply praises Maseru as the bustling commercial and administrative centre of the country, its capital city. Topographically, is characterised by rocky hills and sprawling, haphazard design, with lots of greenery visible between the built-up areas; and this would have been even more the case in the late 1930s, when ‘Maseru’ was composed. Hence Mohapeloa’s reference to ‘green pastures’. Today, in addition to large government buildings, the city has an airport, a university (The University of Lesotho at Roma, just outside Maseru), a college of education (Lesotho Teachers’ Training College), and several schools and hospitals; and is the headquarters of the Lesotho National Broadcasting Corporation, among other important national institutions.