Lesotho fears Trump shake-up could tear threadbare economy

IN A sweltering factory in Lesotho, rows of workers hunch over thrumming sewing machines, churning out piles of jeans for the global market from a country that US President Donald Trump has mocked as unknown.

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Buy sportswear from US retail giant Walmart or blue jeans at South Africa’s Mr Price and there is chance it was stitched on the floor of this garment factory on the capital Maseru which counts 400-odd employees.

Although modest in size compared in global textile powerhouses like Bangladesh and China, the tiny mountain kingdom’s clothing industry is the country’s largest employer with more than 35 000 workers, according to official data.

The workers are now fretting over their future after Trump this month called Lesotho “a country nobody has ever heard of” while defending his sweeping aid cuts.

“I was lost for words when I heard him speak. He thought we were useless to him,” Motlatsi Marou told AFP, a streak of sweat dripping from his face as he hemmed grey pants at the Afri-Expo Textiles company. The 33-year-old has worked at the company for two years in his longest stretch of steady employment. Production manager Malerai Snay Mosotho was equally taken back by Trump’s comments.

“It’s something that we didn’t expect,” the 49-year-old said.