WeeklySA_AdminSPOTLIGHT: The unit had begun exposing questionable state land allocations and widespread corruption, implicating senior government officials…
By Sechaba Mokhethi
Lesotho’s Government Assets Search and Recovery Task Team, set up to trace and recover looted state assets, has been abruptly disbanded after uncovering irregular land allocations that implicate the prime minister, his deputy, former ministers and judges.
The Prime Minister’s office announced on Monday that the unit had been disbanded because it was “not properly gazetted”.
The move has sparked outrage among activists who see it as an attempt to stop the unit’s investigations.
Lucy Borotho, director of public relations in the Prime Minister’s office, said the government realised “the committee was not gazetted to perform this job”, and it would be reconstituted after the “requisite gazetting procedures” were completed.
In the meantime, all 11 members from the defence force, police, security service and key ministries are to return to their former jobs.
The unit commenced work in March 2023, tracing state vehicles and land and illegally occupied government houses. Its recent findings, however, appear to have hit too close to the corridors of power.
Among the team’s most explosive discoveries was the allocation of prime government plots to senior officials under the guise of “public interest” development.
Documents reviewed by the team suggest that former Minister of Local Government Pontšo Sekatle may have irregularly used Section 51 of the Land Act of 2010 to allocate land to now Deputy Prime Minister Nthomeng Majara, then serving as a judge. This law allows the minister to reallocate land for public interest development purposes only.
Other senior officials possibly benefitting from the such allocations include former ministers Mamphono Khaketla and Mpeo Mahase Moiloa, Independent Electoral Commission commissioner Karabo Mokobocho, and Justice Maseshophe Hlajoane.
This was revealed at the task team’s progress report at parliamentary portfolio committee hearings a month ago.
Portfolio committee member Makhahliso Mosoeunyane said that senior official names had been removed from the initial report and only reinstated after the committee refused to accept an edited version. “Why were they removed if everything was done correctly?” she asked.
The unit said the land allocations were presented as “compensation for service to government”. Parliamentary committee members questioned both the legality and fairness of this criteria.
Lands Commissioner Masebele Mponye confirmed that the allocations gazette cited the “public interest” clause meant for development projects, not individual benefit.
The unit said the allocations violated the Land Act of 2010, which repealed a 1979 law allowing discretionary allocations to individuals by the minister.
Political interference
The unit had also alleged cases of illegal occupation, including that of businessman Gong Gan Quan, director of Chuye Construction, who was found living in a government house at Maseru West.
Gong claimed his company retained rights to the property through a subcontract with Anhui Construction, the firm that built the new State House in 2019, and even demanded R2-million in “compensation” for supposed developments on the site.
The unit’s deputy chairperson Moepana Kopo told Parliament that Gong later admitted the occupation was unlawful, but efforts to evict or arrest him were thwarted by political interference.
“Minister [in Prime Minister’s Office] Limpho Tau and [Minister of Communications] Nthati Moorosi ordered his release and reprimanded us, saying we should ‘leave the Chinese man alone’,” Kopo said.
Widespread corruption
Before its dissolution, the unit had compiled evidence of widespread mismanagement of state property.
Of 1,601 surveyed government plots, 97 were found to be transferred to private individuals under suspicious circumstances.
Out of 1,579 government vehicles, Fleet Services could only account for 987, yet Engen Petroleum records showed nearly 3,900 vehicles fuelled under government contracts, with over 3,000 active at one point.
The Public Accounts Committee has also demanded reports from the unit on allegations that MGC Park was unlawfully built on government land. MGC Park is a multi-storey office building in Maseru that serves as the headquarters for Matekane Group of Companies, founded by Prime Minister Matekane.
On 2 October, Deputy Principal Secretary for Cabinet Tšeliso Lesenya was asked by parliamentary committee member Tšeliso Nkoefoshe if the government really needed this unit, as it was thwarted by the same ministers who set it up.
Lesenya assured Parliament that the team would continue its job.
“It has become clear that there is a lot of work to be done, and they have to complete their investigations, submit their report to the minister, who will then present it to the cabinet,” Lesenya said.
The government insists the team will resume its work after gazetting, but critics fear it may never return in its current form. – GroundUp
IN A NUTSHELL
• Lesotho’s asset recovery unit disbanded as “not properly gazetted”.
• The unit’s shut down comes a month after it revealed irregular land allocations to senior officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Nthomeng Majara, former ministers and judges.
• The unit also found 97 of 1 601 government plots were transferred to private individuals under suspicious circumstances, and only 987 of 1 579 government vehicles could be accounted for despite Engen records showing nearly 3 900 fuelled under government contracts.
• The government insists the team will resume its work after gazetting, but critics fear it may never return in its current form.
MIRROR Briefs
‘Luthuli was murdered’
The Pietermaritzburg High Court has ruled that former African National Congress (ANC) president and Nobel Peace prize winner Inkosi Albert Luthuli was murdered.
Luthuli died on July 21, 1967, and it was widely reported at the time that he died soon after being struck by a goods train. However, for more than five decades, the family sought to prove that his death was no accident as claimed by a 1967 inquest ruling, which had concluded that Luthuli died after being struck by a goods train.
Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge, Judge Nompumelelo Hadebe, handed down the ruling on Thursday. “ The finding and the ruling of the magistrate to Mr C.I. Boswell, dated 19 September 1967 at the Stanger Magistrate’s Court under inquest number 76 of 1967, is set aside.”
She said Luthuli’s injuries point to death by assault. “ The deceased died as a result of a fractured skull, cerebral haemorrhage, concussion of the brain associated with an assault.
“As to whether the death was brought about by any act or omission, the death is attributable to cumulative acts and omissions, assault by members of the security special branch of the South African police acting in concert and in common purpose with employees of the South African Railway Company.”
Luthuli was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961 for his leadership of the anti-apartheid movement and faced repeated banning orders and arrests. He led the ANC from 1952 to his murder in 1967. The family spokesperson Sandile Luthuli said this was the first step towards finally getting justice. – Fullview
PREMIER’S XMAS WARNING
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli has called on citizens to act responsibly and remain vigilant during the upcoming festive season to ensure safety across the province.
He made the call during the launch of Safety Month and the Festive Season Safety Plan, outlining KwaZulu-Natal’s comprehensive strategy to protect lives, property, and livelihoods during the holiday period. Speaking at the launch, held in Durban, Ntuli said the festive season represented both a time of joy and significant economic opportunity, with the province expecting to welcome over two million visitors and generate an estimated R13 billion in economic activity.
“The province’s tourism-driven economy depends on safe communities, secure roads and law-abiding citizens. The prosperity and safety are inseparable. We cannot build a thriving tourism sector or sustain inclusive growth without ensuring that our communities, visitors, and roads are safe.” He announced the deployment of 24 515 law enforcement and emergency personnel across the province, as part of the integrated festive season safety operation.
The deployment would include 17 528 SAPS members, 2 000 metro police officers, 693 Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) officers, 1 912 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) officials, 134 South African Revenue Service (SARS) customs officers, and 1 167 community safety volunteers. – SAnews
TYPHOID FEVER ALARM
National Institute for Communicable Disease (NICD) has confirmed it is investigating a surge of Typhoid Fever cases in Tshwane.
Bronkhorstspruit and Hammanskraal are the two most affected areas, both in the Tshwane region. Infections in Bronkhorstspruit average one new case weekly, while Hammanskraal saw a sudden rise, primarily affecting children under 15 years of age.
Tshwane spokesperson, Lindela Mashigo, said preliminary results from recent drinking water samples have not yet identified the source of contamination in the reported cases. Mashigo noted that the metro conducted routine water quality testing across its network and, to date, no detection of Salmonella Typhi, the bacterium that causes typhoid, had been recorded.
Typhoid fever is a dangerous disease, caused by the Salmonella typhi bacterium. The bacteria that cause typhoid fever enter the body in contaminated water and food.
The disease is very contagious. It spreads quickly in places where people live in poverty – most often places with dirty water that don’t have proper toilets or sewage systems that work properly. The symptoms of typhoid fever may include a high temperature, body pains such as headache and stomach ache, tiredness, coughing, not wanting to eat, wanting to throw up, constipation and diarrhoea. Some people get a rash. If left untreated, the disease can lead to death. – Lehlohonolo Lehana
US SLASHES REFUGEE NUMBERS
US President Donald Trump is cutting the limit on refugees the US resettles to 7 500 for the upcoming fiscal year, while prioritising white South Africans – a sharp break from the nation’s traditional policy of accepting tens of thousands fleeing conflict and persecution annually. The decision posted last week in the Federal Register said the new policy was justified by “humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest”.
It is a steep decrease from last year’s ceiling of 125 000, set under former president Joe Biden, a Democrat. Bloomberg previously reported the administration was considering shrinking the cap to 7 500. The cap is the latest effort by the administration to slash migration, both illegal and legal.
“By privileging Afrikaners while continuing to ban thousands of refugees who have already been vetted and approved, the administration is once again politicising a humanitarian programme,” International Refugee Assistance Project President Sharif Aly said in a statement.
The administration has mostly focused on taking in white South Africans, who Trump has claimed, without evidence, are facing a “genocide” at the hands of the country’s black majority government.
The South African government and several Afrikaner groups have denied the allegations.- Fullview
