News

The thrill of online dating

Published

3 years ago

December 28, 2021

MASERU – SEEKING love in modern times? A few habits to forget if you are to make it or break it: That letter through the postman, that eye contact at a church youth meeting or that surreptitious meeting to get to know the little personal details, like one’s favourite music. That’s all out of the window now.

Online dating. That’s the in-thing for those seeking a new flame, although danger is always lurking.
With a boom in access to the internet, especially the youths, online dating sites have become the go-to places to meet and “get to know” new people for both males and females.
Exciting, and probably convenient too in these days of limited social contact.

But dangerous too, not least because of the risk of fake online identities used by shady and criminal characters to prey on desperate lonely hearts.
For those with deep pockets, risk is limited by paying for professional sites with advanced security features, although many of them are found in richer countries.
However, the majority of people seeking love online use so-called free sites. The risks are higher.

Dumped by her boyfriend, Maleshoane ’Moneri from Quthing fell into depression. Lonely and sad, the 27-year-old went online. There she met “an English man” during last year’s lockdown. “Since it was a hard lockdown, I could not move around to meet new people. Out of frustration, I visited online sites to fish around for a potential lover,” she said. She shared her contacts and profile before later deleting them. It was too late. “On one of the days, I received a WhatsApp message from UK digits proposing love to me.

Apparently the man had taken my contacts before I could delete them,” she said. Instead of exercising caution, she blushed. “It was so amazing to be approached by a British man who seemed to be caring and loving. He called me all the beautiful names. Being called an African Queen was quite charming. The man really knew how to entice a woman. He was so romantic…I totally lost my mind.” What further tickled ’Moneri was the man’s interest in her future plans. “At times, he would promise to buy me a ticket so that I could fly to the UK. At times, he would suggest coming to

Lesotho himself. The man was charming and talked about life. He video-called me every time,” she said. She said the man would ask her what she needed so that he would send the items to Lesotho. “I told him that I was an emerging businesswoman working on a shoe-string budget. He promised me that he would inject some cash into my business so that it could grow,” she said. One of the WhatsApp messages from the man read: “These are in your gift package. 1 Apple laptop, 1 iPhone, 1 set of golden jewelleries, 1 set of silver jewelleries. 5 interllian Chanel handbags, 1 packet of gold watch, 2 sets of Chanel perfume and 1 sealed envelope of 60 000 British pounds”. He showed her pictures of the gift box supposedly being transported to the airport for onward transmission to Lesotho. “He told me that he would link me up with another guy at the airport in Lesotho who would help me clear the parcel.” For this to happen, she had to deposit M3 000 into a certain bank account. “I told him that I did not have that money. And he told me that I had to borrow because he had sent me a lot of money so I would be able to pay back,”

‘Moneri said. And then a guardian angel appeared. While she was still busy looking for the money, ’Moneri met her cousin who told her that the whole exercise was a scam. “That’s when I came to my senses. Otherwise I was going to be a victim,” said ‘Moneri. The desperation for love pushes many to plunge head on despite the risks. “It is tough out here. Some people do not understand how we struggle to get lovers. We need partners,” Lipuo Mohanoe, 36, said.

But it is often not easy to find a person that you truly love, she said.
She said people who visit the sites usually fish around for their matching lovers but that unfortunately does not usually translate into reality.
“Some men go there just to cheat women and swindle them out of their valuable property,” she said.
Mohanoe said people who look for marriage online usually end up in tears.

“Those sites are flooded with people who are philanderers,” she said.
Often, people fall for fake profiles.
“When you meet in person, you are like ‘oh no!, this is the opposite of what I want,’” she said.
Mohanoe said men usually use promises of material benefits to woo women online.

“Some men would pretend that they are rich so that they can hook up with women. Some women also share false profiles on the sites where they put fake pictures,” she said.
Deputy police spokesperson Sub- inspector ‘Mareabetsoe Mofoka said they are battling cases of people who use online dating sites to commit criminal acts.
“We treat that as human trafficking that happens locally,” Sub-Inspector Mofoka said.

She said the practice is rampant among both females and males.
“For women, they are usually promised materials and some end up of being raped or killed,” Sub-Inspector Mofoka said.
Sub-Inspector Mofoka recalled a case of a woman who ended up being raped in Berea by a man that she had met on Facebook.
She said police routinely hold sensitisation programmes on the dangers of online dating.

“The sad reality is that it is difficult to trace crimes committed using these on-line sites,” she said.
Dr Lipalesa Mathe, a sociologist from the National University of Lesotho (NUL), said online dating sites are a gateway to both love heaven and hell.
In some countries, Dr Mathe said, online sites are paid for and regulated.
“It is serious and highly regulated,” she said.
In such countries, she said online sites are monitored to fish out shady and criminal elements.
“In Lesotho people are desperate so they become vulnerable,” said Dr Mathe.

Pressure to meet societal expectations such as marriage or having children often drives women into desperation that leads them to unsafe online dating sites, noted Dr Mathe.
Failure to live up to such expectations results in a girl being called derogatory names such as lefetoa, (one whose marriageable years have passed).

She said in other systems, young people are introduced to cultural practices such as seripe or serobolela (Basotho cultural set-ups where boys and girls old enough to get married meet) as part of physical socialisation.
Such arrangements may be a bit tenuous for love seekers locked out of the public by pandemic-induced lockdowns and also work commitments, said Dr Mathe.

Technology, she said, has given people the ability to connect remotely, sometimes ending in marriage.
Finding bliss online is possible, she said, but urged caution.
“Online dating is not wholly bad. Some people use it to get friends for emotional affairs where partners cannot meet even on a single day. This type of affair is used by high profile people because they do not want to be seen in the public glare. No sexual intercourse is involved,” she said.
*Not her real name

Majara Molupe

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