Mafeteng is a city in

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

, and the Camptown (capital city) of the district of Mafeteng. It is located about 76 kilometres south of the country's capital,

Maseru Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, Maseru lies directly on the Lesotho–South Africa border. Maseru had a population of 330,760 in the 2016 census. T ...

and has a population of approximately 61,000. The South African border town to Mafeteng is Wepener. The town is said to be named after an early visitor, Emile Roland, who was nicknamed "Lefeta," literally meaning "traveller" or "passer-by." Mafeteng translates to English as "The place of the passers-by." During the Gun War of 1880/81 a great deal of fighting took place near Mafeteng. The cemetery, located near Mafeteng's Bantu Stadium, contains an

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

in memory of members of the Cape forces who fell in action in the area. One of the sights in Mafeteng remains the Diphiring Mill, a fully working roller mill established outside the town by Mr. William S. Scott in 1912 and currently operated by the Osborne Family, millers by trade. The whole mill is run off a single engine by an intricate pulley system.

Basotho people The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The ancestors of the Sotho people are believed to h ...

use the mill to process maize, wheat, millet and other grains. Mafeteng has several industrial developments including a Gap/Old Navy clothing factory and the Lesotho Pharmaceutical Company (LPC), which also exports to several countries in the region. Mafeteng has two hotels, the Golden Hotel located on the road to Maseru and the Mafeteng Hotel located on Hospital Road. The hotels are the center of the town's limited nightlife: each has a public and a private bar. Mafeteng has little tourism although travelers occasionally stop at the Buy N Take en route to the Van Rooyen's Gate border crossing at Wepener or Malealea Lodge, a tourist destination in Mafeteng District. The Famo musician Mosotho Chakela was born in Mafeteng in 1963. Mafeteng is home to Bantu Stadium. In the past it has hosted district track and field,

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

tournaments. The victorious teams move on to national competitions held in Maseru to represent their district. In 2004, the soccer team from St. Thomas High School progressed through the tournament at Bantu Stadium and secured the national championship. Subsequently, Bantu Stadium had to undergo closure for the renovation of its perimeter fences and spectator areas following the events of 2004.

Climate

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