MASERU

PROMINENT businessman Bothata Mahlala could be set to challenge a decision by the Democratic Congress (DC) to block him from contesting for the party’s top leadership position, thepost heard this week.

The move comes after the DC national executive committee announced in a circular this week that the position of party leader, currently held by Mathibeli Mokhothu, will not be contested at the elective conference set for January 25 to 27.

Instead, the circular shows that Mahlala will contest for the deputy leader’s position against the incumbent, Motlalentoa Letsosa.

That decision has triggered a fierce response from Mahlala who told thepost yesterday that he was not happy with the party’s decision.

“I am dissatisfied with the decision,” Mahlala said.

“I will announce my next move to the media next week.”

thepost however understands that Mahlala, who has been a prominent funder of the DC over the years, could be seeking legal advice to challenge the national executive committee’s decision which he says is undemocratic and unconstitutional.

That could set the stage for a bruising legal battle within the DC that could leave the party seriously weakened.

Mahlala said the party’s decision to ring-fence Mokhothu’s position smacked of selfishness on the part of the leadership.

Mokhothu’s six-year term as party leader ends this month. He is seeking a new term as party leader.

“Instead of understanding and abiding by the rule of law, he (Mokhothu) claims he is under attack,” Mahlala said.

“I am not against anyone but only want to change Basotho’s lives. No one is fighting him. He is unhappy that some members want changes in the party.”

Mahlala said the party’s grassroots supporters were not happy with Mokhothu’s performance when the DC was in government between 2020 and 2022.

“I am not (interested) in party politics but politics that take the entire nation forward,” he said.

Mahlala said he is being accused of supporting Prime Minister Sam Matekane instead of wholly opposing him as a member of an opposition party.

“I do not support him as a party leader, but as a prime minister for all Basotho,” he said.

The DC’s spokesman, Serialong Qoo, said the circular is “the final decision by party members”.

Qoo took a swipe at Mahlala who he said had gone against the “culture” of the congress parties’ which does not allow members to openly tout for leadership positions without first being recommended from their villages, branches and constituencies.

“The recommendations as they appear in the circular are from the villages, branches and constituencies and were sent to the party head office,” Qoo said.

Qoo said it was wrong for Mahlala to announce to the media that he was going to contest for the leadership of the party even before the party structures had made such a declaration.

“It was also wrong (for him) to badmouth the leader of the party,” he said.

“In the congress movement we wait for the structures to recommend us.”

He said the circular clarifies that “Mahlala and other candidates have accepted the recommendations by the party structures”.

“Our office also has to verify the membership first, before publishing the entire list of contestants,” he said.

Nkheli Liphoto

MASERU

TWO men, who are suspected to be members of a violent syndicate that has been stealing cars in Lesotho, have been arrested.

The two, 23-year-old Molefe Matooane from Mpharane in Leribe and Tumelo Leoatla, 22, of Corn Exchange in the same district, appeared before the Leribe Magistrate’s Court in Tšifa-li-Mali on Monday.

The police said they are looking for three more men in connection with the organised crime.

The two were charged with the murder of Pitso Pitso, 49, on December 14 and the theft of his Honda Fit vehicle.

The court heard that Pitso, a taxi operator, was tricked into believing the two were customers who hired the car to a certain destination unaware that he had been hijacked.

Police say the duo strangled Pitso with a barbed wire until he died and then threw his body into the Nyenye Dam in Maputsoe.

The car was later tracked to South Africa, where it was found with a Mozambique number plate, occupied by four Mozambicans who failed to provide proper documentation.

“The vehicle was found occupied by four Mozambican nationals who failed to provide their documentation,” the police say.

The Mozambicans claimed that they had bought the car from a Lesotho citizen.

“We have the names of that citizen,” the police say.

The police received a tip-off that the syndicate was planning to strike again.

They followed the intelligence and found the two men in possession of a barbed wire, “indicating they were planning to commit another murder”.

The two young men have been remanded in custody and will reappear in court on January 14.

CarSotho, a company importing cars in Lesotho, says several stolen cars and goods were recovered in Lesotho recently.

In a report published last Sunday, the company said Lesotho and South African police collaborated in the search for stolen cars and other goods in Lesotho.

“This development underscores the ongoing challenge of cross-border crime and the importance of coordinated efforts to tackle such issues,” the company said, without specifying how many cars were recovered.

“The recovery operation not only serves as a victory for regional security but also boosts confidence in the ability of authorities to combat organised crime networks operating across borders,” it said.

The company said Lesotho “is often a transit point for stolen vehicles and contraband”.

“Criminal networks exploit the porous border to transport stolen goods, making cross-border cooperation critical to addressing the problem.”

Nkheli Liphoto

MASERU

THE police on Wednesday pulled out the bodies of two sisters and their Mazda vehicle from the Maqalika Dam.

Police say they suspect the two women from Koro-Koro Ha-Khoeli in Maseru rural were murdered, tied to the back seats of the car that was either pushed or made to plunge into the dam.

Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli said the siblings, aged 42 and 29 years, were found with wounds suspected to have been caused by a sharp object on their bodies.

“The car was traced and located in the Maqalika Dam because of a tracker,” S/Supt Mopeli said.

Police were able to pull out the two bodies first and the car later.

S/Supt Mopeli said they are still investigating the case.

He said the women seemed to have been kidnapped from Ha-Tsolo in the south-west of Maseru city where they stayed as one of them was working at one of the local banks.

He said their preliminary investigations uncovered that the deceased were brutally killed before being driven over into the dam.

S/Supt Mopeli said the car seemed to be an automatic vehicle and was set into the dam.

Before the horrific discovery, a case of kidnapping had been opened at the Thetsane police.

“We are working around the clock to arrest the perpetrators so that they face the might of the law,” SSP Mopeli said.

He appealed to the general public to assist with information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Majara Molupe