UN General Assembly
1998

arrested their senior officers, including the army commander. Government employees, including Cabinet Ministers, were stopped from going to work, which resulted in a complete collapse of the administrative order in the country. Criminal activity and lawlessness became the order of the day. There was no doubt that Lesotho was on the brink of widespread violence and total chaos. The crisis was most alarming because of its wider implications for peace and stability in the whole subregion of southern Africa. No effort was made by those involved to heed the calls for peaceful dialogue. Under the circumstances, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) could not remain indifferent. Therefore, on 21 September 1998 members of the Botswana Defence Force and the South African Defence Forces entered the Kingdom of Lesotho in response to an appeal for such intervention by the democratically elected Government of Lesotho. The intervention is aimed at assisting the people of Lesotho to create conditions conducive for them to address their differences in a peaceful manner. Our action conforms strictly to the purposes and principles of the Charter of