All Quotes

"The place is the context of the poetry. It's not that I write about the place, but the poetry comes out of my life in the place. So in that way it is tremendously important To me, and I'm sure i wouldn't be writing what I'm writing if I weren't in Bluff."

"...she's not a sentimental writer. There are times when she's as referential as a nun. At times she leaps into a comic, clownish dance. And times when she thunders like an Old Testament prophet."

"The mind of a child is a very different thing, and getting into that mind and just seeing the way the mind works...my younger daughter says 'you know if you stand on your head, you don't blink'. Now I don't know if that's true or not, but what a great line and I'm going to use that in a book that I'm writing at the moment..."

"You can read it with a perfectly straight face but kind of chuckle inwardly; that's what I like."

"Molly's from his series Dance to the Music of Time, in episode ten"

"In fact her writing reminds me of your writing actually . . . it's insightful and it's layered. And it's a bit like intellectual quicksand"

"March 2024: "I had very good teachers, I had very good coaches, teachers, managers, everything. But most of all, I had a singing teacher who was Hungarian, and she went through the war. I remember I brought her a loaf of bread once and she said 'Kiri, I once had only a raw onion and your bread has reminded me of what I went through during those times of trying to escape.' So she had that drive, whether it be the war or me, but that sort of thing was in her along with [Hungarian-British conductor] Sir Georg Solti who once again, was in the war and escaped as well. So I had two people who were survivors and they made sure that I was going to also do this job and make it, not survive it but make it. And they were always driving me, driving me constantly.""

"The saddest thing when I left New Zealand was that Māori was not spoken. My father was never allowed to speak Māori...Now of course it's allowed, and it's absolutely wonderful that all these young people can speak their own language. I'm very sad that I can't speak it because we were blocked at the time...I will do in my own way. I'm not sure that it will go in my 77-year-old head but I certainly will try. I listen a lot to Māori Television to see how it is even, even the sort of greetings and how everyone speaks it."

"Regarding her retirement: "My main focus is to enjoy my life. I'm living in the most beautiful area by the sea.""

"I don't look at myself as being a dame. I just look at myself as my mother and father's adopted daughter that they gave everything to. The chances I've been given have been through my parents who gave and sacrificed everything for the career that I now have."

"I don't want to hear my voice... It is in the past. When I'm teaching young singers and hearing beautiful young fresh voices, I don't want to put my voice next to theirs."

"Go and do something else. Have a rest from it for a while - could be an hour, could be a week. The answer usually shows itself and I'm away again."

"Since I am not a career politician, Basotho can expect a listening leader who puts the needs of the people first."

"I have said, on many platforms, that I am not in it for the money but to improve the country and the lives of Basotho and I would like to reiterate this point."

"As a show that I am more concerned about the development of the country, I will not take a salary from the government, but will instead have that money invested into infrastructure and economic development. Basotho can also expect a reduction in crime, increased employment, an agricultural and digital revolution and improved infrastructure."

"We have realised that you all have the potential to be in business, but you are sidelined and not given the support that you need, hence we joined politics to correct this."

"We are killing one another every day. Women and girls are being raped everywhere and there are all forms of crimes. We are going to end all this once we get into government. I’m warning criminals to stop these acts immediately,."

"All these things can only be possible if you vote for the RFP. That’s the only way you can determine the future that you want to see. We will not disappoint you."

"If the government is in good shape, the rest will fall into place smoothly and that’s the way it should be."

"We must have our lodging facilities in good shape by renovating those that already exist and building new facilities. That will attract more visitors to our country."

"The road will cut through Lesotho straight to Durban from the Maseru Bridge Border Post without travellers having to take the long route that’s currently being used."

"The project also includes an airport. This will allow for goods to be transported to the sea. We are also going to renovate and upgrade the existing airport to accommodate more people."

"We got our independence in 1966 and eSwatini in 1968. But looking at where they are today, one just wonders where Lesotho got things wrong and what’s happening. eSwatini is doing thrice better than us and Botswana six times better. This calls for serious introspection."

"We have made it very clear from the onset that we are going to do things differently and bring changes. Sometimes, with change comes resistance and bitterness, but at the end of it all, we will have effected change."

"Society wants women to be understood. To be moderate. We can’t be full human beings. Society cannot deal with our liminal complexity. From our early socialization, we are taught about virtue, being nice, being respectful and of course all this is tied to being palatable for men. On the other hand, men are taught how to want and get, to speak up, to be served, to desire and take and to decide things on their own. For instance, to date, for those women who decide to enter marriage and have children, the blunt of child care falls heavily on them. There are so many stories of women giving up on their careers and being “strong” because of their children or to keep the peace in marriage. Women’s suffering is romanticized and normalized as a part of our womanhood. For men, it is majorly not a consideration. Women are judged harshly for putting their careers first with questions like “upita ku school, ana akhala ndi ndani?” that are laced with guilt tripping and the assumption that a woman must remain the primary caregiver at home."

"It doesn’t get any better in the political space. I’m angry that women’s stories continue to be erased. The secretaries who made major contributions to the freedom struggle. The women who mobilized against the one-party state…where are their holidays? when do we celebrate them? It is also very interesting to me how in this day and age, when a man fails, he is judged in his individual capacity but when a woman fails we still claim all women have failed. The best example is our former president Dr Joyce Banda. Because she was voted out, many people (read men and pick me women aka patriarchy princesses and gate keepers) bundled women as a homogenous group who had all failed. But I also find this argument factually untrue per Malawian standards and the presidents we have had so far. Did she really fail? Who are we comparing her to? I understand that we can’t measure leadership based on other failures but neither should we base it on gender."

"If I can do it, you can! There are so many people who are willing to help, reach out to them, including me! Remember; “You are going to want to give up. Don’t.”"

"It's a huge honour to have extended my contract with the club and to be continuing this great adventure. I'm delighted. I'd like to thank everyone who has helped me feel good at Rennes, the staff, the directors and my team-mates. I'd also like to thank the fans, who are always there."

"I was doing really well at the start of the season. This injury stopped me in my tracks and it's up to me to be strong mentally to overcome it. I'm at the top of my game mentally, I'm well supported and I'm still smiling. I've started racing again and that's a joy, but you have to accept that you have to go step by step and listen to the Doc'."

"I had to work twice as hard in training. I'm happy with the level I was able to reach before my injury and the aim is to get back there quickly."

"I'm available to the club, so I play where I'm asked to play, without preference. The important thing is to bring my qualities to the group, to be present. Whether it's on the right, the left or in the middle."

"When you're on the pitch, you don't necessarily see everything that's going on off it. Being on the sidelines makes me realise that."

"When I was little, I really liked Sergio Ramos. He’s a player who goes into duels, fights, and is always there."

"In September 2024, the RFP made arrangements with Ntaote to supply them with fertilizers and agricultural inputs as part of an effort to assist him in avoiding prosecution. As part of the party’s strategy, Hon. Sello Hakane was appointed to oversee the distribution of these proceeds of crime among his party caucus and other MPs. This was executed, yet the DCEO did nothing about it."

"Given the complexity of these allegations involving RFP MPs, I have become an easy target. The Constitution prohibits discrimination—if I financed Ntaote’s operations and he collaborated with RFP MPs to obstruct his trial, I should not be made a scapegoat for political expediency should their plan fail."

"As MPs, we often have policy disagreements in Parliament, but I cannot be prosecuted by my own colleagues under the guise of a DCEO investigation to conceal their ulterior motives. This covert and deceptive approach fundamentally conflicts with the principles of constitutionalism. The key question is: why aren’t RFP MPs being prosecuted by the DCEO?” Mr Lekunya argues."

"I believe my prosecution is intended to indemnify RFP MPs. To me, this is a clear case of abuse of power by the DCEO, given their previous statements and positions, which now contradict the charges they are bringing against me. This inconsistency is throwing the administration of the DCEO into chaos."

"Lipholo is no foreigner, he is a citizen of this country and deserves to be treated with dignity. The police could have approached him in a better, more humane manner. Their aggressive tactics were unnecessary and unjustified."

"We need the police as our strength, as the pillar of national safety, but the government has corrupted this institution. It is being used to intimidate instead of serve."

"Basotho need to have a heart, I fail to understand who on earth would take videos of such a traumatic moment and post them for likes and shares. Life has no guarantee, and we must treat each moment and each life with the dignity it deserves."

"How is it that a country as vast and established as Lesotho has no fire extinguishers readily available on the roads?"

"I will fight tooth and nail for this country, Lesotho deserves better, and I will not rest until we achieve a government that puts people first."

"We will flex our muscles against Liabiloe until she either commits suicide or flees to exile, but we can attain this through collaboration as Basotho."

"I remember the day I mediated between Liabiloe (‘Maesaiah) and Mrs Lipolelo Thabane at my home and Liabiloe promised me that they had buried the hatched. Thereafter, Lipolelo was killed but never once did I think Liabiloe could be a suspect. We suspected she was killed by the notorious plot of Team 20."

"We are ruled by thieves. This (M6, 16 billion) is a lot of money, almost a third of Lesotho’s budget."

"We are going to push for change. It is time for new beginnings. It is time for change; vote wisely for a better future, vote SR. I thank you for remaining faithful to the revolution. That is a sign that you hope for change."

"The government should establish a commission of inquiry to investigate the killings by famo gangs and involvement of security forces in these gangs. It is no secret that members of the security forces are affiliated to different famo gangs in the country."

"The government has since banned the famo gangs fingered in a spate of crimes that have been rocking the country. But unless the government gets to the bottom of the issue, including unearthing state security agents allegedly supplying these gangs with weapons, nothing much will change."

"What keeps me up at night is that these people are siphoning all of this money—they siphon it from the government, they get benefits from the government, they get tax cuts from the government, they siphon all of this money, they siphon your wealth from you. They siphon it in wages by the fact that they don’t increase, they siphon it off, like, shrinkflation, when they act like they—they cry poor and they charge you more for less."

"Once I did that that one time, I was like, ‘oh, I feel like if I can do that I should do that because it keeps everything as raw and as, like, honest and interesting as possible"