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South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has today, Monday 20 October 2014, arrived in Maseru the capital of the Kingdom of Lesotho to continue with regional facilitation efforts by SADC to help the country return to political and security normalcy.

Since his appointment, the facilitator has led the SADC facilitation mission to Lesotho four times to help create dialogue amongst Lesotho's political role players with a view to addressing the political and security challenges facing the country.

In pursuance of this objective, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa facilitated the signing of the Maseru Facilitation Declaration amongst Lesotho's main political players.

The Maseru Facilitation Declaration provides for:

·    The reconvening of Lesotho's Parliament by his Majesty, King Letsie III which took place on Friday,  17th October 2014.
·    The sitting of Parliament will be limited to discussing the budget and all other related matters regarding the holding of elections.
·    Parliament to dissolve at the beginning of December 2014.
·    The National General Elections to be held at the end of February 2015 and on a date to be set by His Majesty, King Letsie III.

The Facilitator, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to return to South Africa tomorrow, Tuesday, 21 October 2014.

Issued by Government