News

Meat traders feel the heat

Published

3 years ago

September 21, 2021

MASERU – TIGHT competition with wholesalers has reduced the once popular Khubetsoana-based Sakeng Butchery to a shadow of its former self.
Sakeng is competing with Meraka-Lesotho, the national abattoir-cum-wholesaler which has a monopoly to import meat into the kingdom, and a Chinese-owned Khubetsoana wholesaler.
Sakeng butchery buys its stock from Meraka-Lesotho to sell to the Khubetsoana community and people from surrounding areas, who can also buy directly from the abattoir at much lower prices.

“Where we sell a kilogram of beef for M95, our competing wholesalers sell for M80, which makes customers leave us to buy from them,” said Teboho Motšephe, the Sakeng butchery manager, adding that they only make meaningful sales on Sundays when their competitors are closed.
He said the butchery used to make over M80 000 in a month in 2017 before the competition went a gear up. Now the butchery considers itself lucky to sell meat worth M20 000 a month.

“Sometimes the sales are less than the amount I pay as rent. I have to take out all my savings to cover up the business costs,” he said.
He said to keep the business running, he has established a meat roasting business (chesa nyama), which is still hardly profitable since he has to buy items such as spices, wood and the sauces.
Motšephe said he lost meat worth M13 000 when competition started heating up.

He said he then decided to reduce his stock to minimize losses.
He said even the tendering business which was the pillar of his business is no longer viable since all the tenders are been given to Meraka-Lesotho.
He said even the Lesotho Defence Force and the police, who were some of his major customers, are now buying meat from Meraka-Lesotho instead of from local butcheries.
He said they tried to approach other companies to negotiate terms but “all they tell us is that they have been channeled to offer the tender to Meraka-Lesotho”.

He said during the few times that local butcheries get government tenders, payment delays has pulled the business down.
“I lost about M200 000 from a government tender,” he said.
Sakeng is just one of small meat suppliers that are reeling from the entrance of Meraka-Lesotho into the retail business.
“The national abattoir is a wholesaler while at the same time it is selling to individuals, how are we supposed to compete,” queried Motšephe.
Their anger is still palpable months after the government banned beef imports and announced that Meraka-Lesotho was to be the only licensed slaughter house.

There were howls of protest from meat traders and other stakeholders over what they viewed as unfair competition.
“It is also aggressively pushing for contracts to supply meat to government departments like the army,” said Motšephe.
Butcheries say importing a live animal is a bit steep for farmers compared to importing carcasses, which they are not allowed to do at the moment.
Local butcheries complain of being neglected by the government, which they accuse of failing to mediate between them and Meraka-Lesotho and wholesalers.

Motšephe, who is also the Secretary-General of the Butchery Association, explained that they have been battling with the issue of Meraka-Lesotho and the wholesalers which have taken over their customers since 2017.
He said they presented their grievances to the Ministry of Small Business Development and the Ministry of Trade but nothing positive has come out of the presentations.
He said that Meraka-Lesotho is responsible for selling the carcasses to wholesalers and butcheries.

The wholesalers, he argued, have to package the meat to sell it to the retailers and butcheries, which are supposed to make their money from selling to individuals.
“However, this is not the case anymore because Meraka-Lesotho and the wholesalers are selling to individuals as well. This is hampering our businesses badly,” said Motšephe.

He said after they were banned from importing meat into the country, the butcheries signed an agreement with Meraka-Lesotho for them to buy meat from the company. In turn, Meraka-Lesotho would stop selling to individuals to give the butcheries space to make some money.
However, Meraka failed to comply with the terms of the agreement, said Motšephe, warning of an impending collapse of meat sellers.
He cited some big butcheries in town that include Thanda-Bantu, a once famous Maseru butchery, as examples of businesses closing as a result of the unfair competition.

Others that had owned buildings have since started renting them out to other businesses.
As a result, more than 135 Basotho have lost their jobs since 2019, he said.
Covid-19 has worsened the situation, he said, adding that local butcheries are no longer making a profit and the lucky ones were only able to make enough money to pay rent and feed their families.
“We are operating from hand to mouth,” he said.
He said some local butcheries have begun diversifying into selling other items to survive.

Motšephe said they have lodged their complaints with the Minister of Small Business Development.
He said at the beginning of this year, former Minister of Small Business Development Keketso Sello held a meeting with local butcheries in Hlotse.
The then minister promised them that since the ministry did not have the power to set trade policies, he would present the matter to the Minister of Trade and get back to them.
“We have been waiting for the minister’s response up to now,’’ he said.
He added that they even wrote a letter to the Minister of Trade, Dr Thabiso Molapo, and the ministry claimed that this was the first time it was hearing about the matter.

’Maliemiso Rasunyane, the association deputy secretary-general and also a butchery owner, said the wholesalers and Meraka-Lesotho are pushing small-scale operators out of business.
“We are struggling to make a profit. The competition is too tight,” she said.
She said they presented their complaints to several ministers, including to the former Minister of Small Businesses, Chalane Phori, and later his successor Chief Thesele ’Maseribane.

“The only minister we have not talked to is the current Minister of Small Businesses Machesetsa Mofomobe,” Rasunyane said.
Rasunyane said although the permits to buy meat from South Africa are now being issued to individuals, they cannot go to South Africa to buy a few kilograms of meat to sell back home.
She said butchery owners have been trying to source pork from local farmers without much success.

“The prices from local farmers are sometimes ridiculous,” she said
She said what is sustaining most butcheries is the chesanyama businesses which they have started within the butchery premises to attract customers.
“We have really gone to a point where some are failing to pay rent. We are fighting with the building owners because we are failing to pay rent,” she said.
Rasunyane said she started with five employees who were supporting their families from the pay they earned, but she has been forced to retrench them.

“I am now working with my child,” she said.
The Managing Director of Meraka-Lesotho, Mosito Khethisa, said the company signed an agreement with local butcheries to sell them meat in bulk while the butcheries would only buy from Meraka after the importation of meat into the country was banned.
However, the local butcheries failed to support Meraka-Lesotho and instead supported foreign wholesalers, he said.

Khethisa said although, after the agreement, the business stopped selling to individuals, the treatment Meraka-Lesotho got from local butcheries compelled the business “to become flexible” for its own sustainability.
He said Covid-19 has made the situation worse.
He said the company was “left with no other options but to retrench half of our employees”.

“I do not know what the butcheries want from us,” Khethisa said.
Khethisa said local butcheries are buying cows from local farmers, which they slaughter in their own premises.
“Hence Meraka is losing customers.”
He said Meraka is supplying meat to large supermarkets such as Pick n Pay and has special prices for bulk buyers.
“The local butcheries do not want to support Meraka,” he said.
The assistant Public Relations Officer in the Ministry of Trade, Lihaelo Nkaota, said the ministry is seized with the matter.

Refiloe Mpobole

News

Knives out for Molelle

Published

3 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

3 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

3 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