This study investigates the 2014 Lesotho political crisis and assesses the South African response to the crisis. The 2014 crisis in Lesotho was a watershed moment as it exposed the fragile nature of the political setup of the country. Regional states had become worried and if the crisis was not settled, it had the potential of having regional spill-over effects. South Africa which was at the time the chair of the Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Cooperation (OPDSC) was mandated to lead the mediation of the 2014 Lesotho political crisis. Data for this study was analysed using thematic content analysis. The study found out that the instrumentalization of state institutions and the rife corruption were among the chief causes of the 2014 Lesotho political crisis. Also, it was found out that it will require a great deal of state reform for Lesotho to free itself from the chains of recurrent crisis. In this 2014 political crisis of which South Africa was the chief mediator, the former apartheid state managed the crisis, but it did not outright resolve it. One of the reasons for this is that South Africa as the mandated arbitrator to the 2014 Lesotho political crisis, did not address the root causes of the melee.

Keywords: 2014 Lesotho political crisis, Southern Africa, South Africa, challenges, achievements