News

Burial space runs out in Maseru

Published

3 years ago

March 15, 2022

MASERU is running out of burial space, forcing the city council to consider imposing a solution that could offend conservative Basotho who are still rooted in traditional beliefs.
The council is planning to usher in cremation and “top-on-top” provisions as graveyards are rapidly running out of space.

This is likely to attract criticism from many Basotho who are highly superstitious.
“Top-on-top” is when a dead person is buried on top of another in the same grave but the MCC demands that the one buried first should have been buried for at least 8 years.
Before the establishment of the council in 1989, graves were allocated to families by village chiefs.

As time went by, graves were located in one garden for an entire village because family burial spaces rapidly filled up as communities expanded, especially due to increased rural to urban migration.

As a result, the family graves system was abandoned for community graveyards but within 20 years from the early 1990s the city found itself back to square one.
The newly available graveyards filled up and could not be expanded because people built around them, forcing the council to designate new ones that would be used by several villages.

The council in the late 1990s designated the Motlakaseng cemetery in Khubetsoana to cater for the villages of Khubetsoana, Sekamaneng, Koalabata, parts of Ha-Mabote and Naleli.
Today the available space at the Motlakaseng cemetery is not enough for more than 100 graves, meaning in the next five years these villages will have nowhere to bury their dead.

Another designated cemetery is Lepereng, which caters for the villages of Ha-Mabote, the whole of Ha-Tšosane, Motimposo, Tšenola, Ha-Tšiu, Upper and Lower Thamae, the whole of Qoaling and its sub-villages, Lithoteng and Lithabaneng.

Today the burial area is rapidly shrinking.
Other areas at the Mamenoaneng, Ha-Abia, Ha-’Nelese, Ha-Thetsane, Tsolo and Linakotseng, including Masowe may also soon have nowhere to bury their dead.

Lineo Molepe, 37, from Ha-Tšiu says she does not have any problem with the top-on-top system because of the shrinking burial space.

“This would ensure that the graves are clean because at the moment they are unclean,” Molepe says.

“Burying our loved ones in private property would also ensure that animals do not enter the cemeteries,” she says.

It is embedded in the Basotho tradition that cemeteries should be continually cleaned because it is the place of the ancestors.

However, shared graveyards sometimes becomes problematic because of differing customs as each family have their own ancestral worship practices.

Puseletso Manare from Ha-Leqele says the Maseru City Council (MCC) should get a huge site for a new cemetery.

She says Lesotho should emulate what South Africa has done in Botshabelo in the Free State.
Manare says she is completely against a person being taken from his village and be buried in another.

“Basotho like to visit their dead in the cemeteries,” she says.
She says it would be burdensome for someone to travel to another village to check on their dead.

She says Maseru is now growing big and the relevant authorities should try to accommodate all people.

Her argument is that some families cannot afford the top-on-top system because it is costly.
A top-on-top burial requires a health official’s presence to ensure that the people would not get in touch with the body of the previously buried person.

It also requires the grave diggers to go 12-feet further down to allow the next one that will be buried in the same grave space for burial.

Maseru, ever since the introduction of textile factories in 1980, started being a city teeming with tens of thousands of residents who at some point in their lives would die and need to be buried.

Now, the 138 square kilometre-city teeming with 400 000** people, is facing an acute shortage of graveyards plots.

Some of the cemeteries have already been closed and are no longer used.
For example, Lifelekoaneng cemetery in Ha-Mabote and many others have been closed.

The issue of dwindling graveyards and scarcity of burial sites is so serious that in November last year there was chaos at the Lifelekoaneng cemetery in Ha-Mabote after the police ganged up with the MCC officials to fight villagers over the burial of a woman.

The villagers had dug a grave to bury one of their own with the chief’s permission but the MCC argued the whole procedure was illegal.

The MCC then brought an excavator and filled the freshly dug grave with soil, torching violent scenes at the grave-site.

The villagers threw stones at the police but lost the battle and the grave was eventually filled with soil.

The MCC spokesperson ’Makatleho Mosala says they encourage people to leave some of their cultural practices so that they could be able to accommodate all the dead wishing to be buried in the city.

She says their graveyards are rapidly filling up.
To address this problem, they have a number of suggestions they make to the people wishing to use their sites.

Mosala says Basotho should change their mind-sets that they should be buried in their respective village of family areas in the city.

“If one stays in Ha-Abia, one should not expect to be buried there,” Mosala says, adding that one would be “buried anywhere within the city’s burial premises”.

While they are thinking of securing more places to bury the dead, Mosala says they have tried to be innovative and introduced the top-on-top system.

For this new system to happen, they arrange with families during a funeral so that the other family member be buried in the same grave.

The grave is dug in such a manner that two people are buried in the same grave but not at the same time.

Mosala says this only happens if there is an agreement and documents that the dead people are relatives.

“This is not a booking but an arrangement,” she says.
She says families should talk with their funeral parlors that six feet should be for the first dead person and on top of it, there should be another six feet for yet another person.

Mosala says the top-on-top system is already being practised in many places within the city.
She says they are also encouraging people to opt for cremation because it would save the space.

“After the deceased are cremated, the ash is given to the family to put in an urn,” she says.
“Some families dispose of it in the seas or rivers.”

For those who wish to bury the ash, it is compressed into a small portion which saves space.
A study conducted in May 2017 showed that the average cost for cremation was around M7 000.

A private cremation could cost about M5 000, while a chapel cremation could cost anything upwards of M9 000.

A private cremation could cost about M5 000, while a chapel cremation could cost anything upwards of M9 000.

This is minus the cost of transporting the body to South Africa for the process.
A normal burial, minus transportation costs, ranges between M15 000 and M30 000.
Both cremation and the burying of a deceased person on top of another clash with Basotho cultural and religious norms.

Advocate Borenahabokhethe Sekonyela, a Customary Law and Environmental Law expert, says cremation is a new phenomenon in Basotho culture.

“It was never there in the culture of Basotho,” Advocate Sekonyela said.
He says Basotho believe that when a person dies, his spirit lives on.

That is why relatives would want their dead to be buried next to other deceased of the same blood.

He says it is for this reason that when a person dies and is buried in a certain area, his or her family members would exhume his body so that it is reburied next to his relatives.
“Basotho believe in the lives of the dead,” Adv Sekonyela says, adding that they believe the soul lasts forever.

He says this cultural aspect is not only confined to Basotho.
He says some cultures also believe in their dead.

And this has been happening in the times of the Bible.
Adv Sekonyela quotes the Bible from Genesis 15:15 where God told Abraham that “As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age”.He says this implies that Abraham had to be buried next to his ancestors.
His remains had to be taken to his original home.

He says burying the dead closer to their loved ones has deep cultural implications.
Adv Sekonyela says that is why when his father died he was returned to Malingoaneng to be laid to rest next to his family members.

News

Knives out for Molelle

Published

6 days ago

January 13, 2025

The Post

MASERU

KNORX Molelle’s appointment as the Director General of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) in February 2023 could have been illegal.

The Law Society of Lesotho has told Prime Minister Sam Matekane that Molelle was appointed without being admitted as a legal practitioner in Lesotho, as required by law.

The society claims the information came from a whistleblower on January 2 and was corroborated by its roll of legal practitioners in Lesotho.

The society says the appointment violates section 4 of the Prevention of Corruption and Economic Offences Act 1999 which states that a person shall not be appointed as the DCEO director general unless they have been admitted as a legal practitioner in terms of the Legal Practitioners Act.

In the letter, Advocate Ithabeleng Phamotse, the society’s secretary, tells Matekane that this requirement “is not a mere procedural formality but a substantive qualification essential to the lawful appointment of the Director General”.

“The absence of such qualification fatally impairs the appointment ab initio, rendering it null and void from the outset,” Advocate Phamotse says in the letter written on Tuesday.

The society argues that if left unaddressed the illegality undermines the credibility, effectiveness and legality of the DCEO’s operations and exposes the kingdom to serious risks, including challenges to the lawfulness of decisions and actions made by Molelle.

“Should it be confirmed that the appointment was made in contravention of the mandatory legal requirements,” Advocate Phamotse said, “we respectfully urge you to take immediate corrective action to rectify this glaring irregularity”.

Advocate Phamotse tells the prime minister that if the appointment is not corrected, the society would be “left with no alternative but to institute legal proceedings to protect the interests of justice and uphold the rule of law in Lesotho”.

“We trust that you will accord this matter your highest priority and act decisively to avert further damage to the integrity of our governance structures.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesman, Thapelo Mabote, said they received the letter but Matekane had not yet read it yesterday.

Matekane is on leave and is expected back in the office on January 14.

Questions over the validity of his appointment come as Molelle is being haunted by the damaging audio clips that were leaked last week.

The clips were clandestinely recorded by Basotho National Party leader, Machesetsa Mofomobe.

In some of the clips, Molelle appears to be describing Matekane and his deputy Justice Nthomeng Majara as idiots. He also appears to be calling Law Minister Richard Ramoeletsi a devil.

In other clips, he seems to be discussing cases. thepost has not independently verified the authenticity of the audio clips.

Staff Reporter

News

Massive salary hike for chiefs

Published

6 days ago

January 13, 2025

The Post

MASERU

THE government has increased the salaries for traditional leaders by a massive 88.5 percent.

This means that a village chief not appointed by a gazette will now earn M3 001 a month, up from the previous salary of M1 592. That means village chiefs will now earn an extra M1 409 per month.

A village chief, or headman, appointed by a gazette has moved from M1 966 to M3 567 per month.

Above a village chief is one with jurisdiction over a small cluster of villages, a category three chief, who now moves from M3 768 to M5 181 per month.

A category four chief, known as ward chief, has moved from M4 455 per month to M7 993.

The category five chief, who reports directly to a principal chief, will now earn M10 674, up from M9 939 per month.

There is no increment for principal chiefs.

The government says the budget for chiefs’ salaries has moved from M129.4 million to M208.3 million annually.

The hike follows a series of discussions between the Lesotho Workers Association, representing the chiefs, and the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship.

The revised salaries will be implemented with effect from April 1, 2025.

According to the settlement agreement, a discussion about raising the lowest salary of M6 000 for the lowest-ranking chiefs will be revisited in October 2025.

Chiefs who spoke to thepost have expressed satisfaction with the hike, saying it will significantly improve their lives.

Chief Mopeli Matsoso of Ha-Tikoe in Maseru said his previous salary of M1 500 per month would now be doubled, which would improve his life and help provide smoother services to the community.

He stressed that they used to close the offices while going out looking for jobs to compensate for their little salaries.

“Now the people will get smoother services,” Chief Matsoso said.

“The offices will forever be open,” he said.

Chief Matsoso said the salary hike will also serve as a motivation for other chiefs.

Chief Tumo Majara of Liboping, Mokhethoaneng, also expressed his gratitude.

Chief Majara acknowledge the positive impact the salary review would have, especially as a new officeholder.

“I guess we are all happy, that review will help a lot,” he said.

The Principal Chief of Thaba-Bosiu, Khoabane Theko, said the salary increase of chief is a welcome move by the government.

“I’m yet to study how the new salary structure looks like. But I welcome it as a good move by the government,”Chief Theko said.

Nkheli Liphoto

News

Maqelepo says suspension deeply flawed

Published

6 days ago

January 13, 2025

The Post

MASERU

Motlatsi Maqelepo, the embattled Basotho Action Party (BAP) deputy leader and Tello Kibane, who was the party chairman, have rejected their suspension from the party arguing it was legally flawed.

The BAP’s central executive committee on Tuesday suspended Maqelepo for seven years and Kibane for five years. The suspensions became effective on the same day.

The party’s disciplinary committee which met last Wednesday had recommended an expulsion for the two but that decision was rejected with the committee pushing for a lengthy suspension.

Maqelepo’s suspension will end on January 7, 2032 while Kibane’s will run until January 7, 2030.

Their suspension letters from the BAP deputy secretary general Victoria Qheku, say they should not participate in any of the party’s activities.

“In effect, you are relieved of your responsibility as a CEC member and BAP deputy leader,” Maqelepo was told in the letter.

“You were found guilty by default on all charges and the committee recommended your immediate dismissal from the party,” the letter reads.

On Kibane, the verdict states that the committee decided to mitigate the recommended sanction by reducing his suspension to five years.

“In the gravity of the charges, the suspension affects your membership in the BAP parliamentary caucus from which you are removed as a chairman.”

They were suspended in absentia after they refused to attend the disciplinary hearing, which they said was illegal.

In response to the suspension, Maqelepo wrote a letter addressing the BAP members in general, defying the committee’s decision to suspend them.

He has called for a special conference, appealing to party constituencies to push for it, citing the ongoing internal fight that includes the leadership’s decision to withdraw the BAP from the coalition government.

Maqelepo also said the central executive committee is illegally in a campaign to dissolve committees in the constituencies and replace them with stooges.

He reminded the members that there is a court case pending in the High Court seeking an interdiction to charge them in the party’s structures without approval of the special conference that he is calling.

He said the party leadership should have awaited the outcome of the case before proceeding with any disciplinary action.

“The party that is led by a professor of law continues to do dismissals despite the issue being taken to the courts,” Maqelepo said.

The party leader, Professor Nqosa Mahao, is a distinguished professor of law.

Maqelepo said they would write the central executive committee rejecting its decision to suspend them, saying they will continue taking part in party activities.

He said their fate in the party is in the hands of the special conference.

He appealed to all the party constituencies to continue writing letters demanding the special conference.

Both Maqelepo and Kibane received letters on November 28 last year inviting them to show cause why they should not be suspended pending their hearing.

They both responded on the following day refusing to attend.

Maqelepo, Kibane, Hilda Van Rooyen, and ’Mamoipone Senauoane are accused of supporting a move to remove Professor Mahao from his ministerial position last year.

They were part of the BAP members who asked Prime Minister Sam Matekane to fire Professor Mahao, who at the same time was pushing for the reshuffling of Tankiso Phapano, the principal secretary for the Ministry of Energy.

When Matekane ignored Professor Mahao’s demands, the latter withdrew the BAP from the coalition government much to the fierce resistance of the party’s four MPs.

Maqelepo started touting members from constituencies to call for a special conference to reverse Professor Mahao and the central executive committee’s decision.

The central executive committee issued a circular stopping Maqelepo’s rallies but he continued, with the support of the other MPs.

In the BAP caucus of six MPs, it is only Professor Mahao and ’Manyaneso Taole who are supporting the withdrawal from the government.

Nkheli Liphoto