Sechaba Mokhethi Five Qiloane Community Council members are charged with 28 counts of corruption. Prosecution alleges the council’s quintet collected M98,250 in unauthorised “special fees” from land applicants. Each accused was released on M5,000 bail; trial date to be set on 3 March. Five members of the Qiloane Community Council appeared before the Maseru
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25 years ago their land was taken from them. They still haven’t been compensated
The community of Ha Rapokolana was moved for the Mohale Dam which supplies water to South Africa. Chief Rapokolana Theko (on the right) says the authorities have broken their promises to the villagers. Photos: Sechaba Mokhethi Sechaba Mokhethi The community of Ha Rapokolana in Lesotho is still waiting for compensation for land
Lesotho’s failed multi-million rand high-altitude sports centre
The decaying Rapokolana facility was built in 2005 but has never been fully operational. It is a missed opportunity for athletes from South Africa and Lesotho. The athlete’s village at the Rapokolana High Altitude Sports Training Centre is currently occupied by road workers. Photos: Sechaba Mokhethi. Sechaba Mokhethi Built in 2005 to
Why Basotho cross the border illegally to SA
With passports delayed for weeks and sometimes months, many Basotho migrants say they are forced to cross rivers into South Africa. Photos: Sechaba Mokhethi Sechaba Mokhethi The Department of Home Affairs office has been overwhelmed with snaking queues as thousands returned home to renew their documents over the festive season. Because many of
Parliament blocks debate on explosive hospital report
A Public Accounts Committee report recommends that a lease at Queen Mamohato Memorial Hospital in Maseru should be terminated because of procurement irregularities. Photo: Sechaba Mokhethi Sechaba Mokhethi Parliament blocked the tabling of a Public Accounts Committee report on procurement irregularities in the awarding of a contract to operate a private wing
Communications regulator finds Vodacom guilty of unfair market practices
Lesotho’s communications regulator has found Vodacom Lesotho guilty of unfair market practices. Photo: Sechaba Mokhethi Sechaba Mokhethi The Lesotho Communications Authority has ruled that Vodacom breached consumer-protection laws by imposing airtime restrictions without warning customers. It has ordered a full reversal, after 138 subscribers reported unexplained changes to their airtime use. The Consumers Protection
Payments to sick miners resume after fraud scare
Former miners with permanent lung disease and the dependents of deceased miners queue in Maseru during a Tshiamiso Trust outreach visit in July. Sechaba Mokhethi South Africa’s Medical Bureau for Occupational Diseases (MBOD) has resumed payments of compensation to former miners in Lesotho. Payments were suspended in 2024 after the MBOD lost M1.4-million
Journalism is increasingly treated as a crime in Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwean government has arrested and charged several high-profile journalists. AI generated photo. Zimbabwe CorrespondentState surveillance, arrests and detentions have created a climate of fear in newsrooms, and a new law will bring investigative journalism under direct state control. The effect is chilling: editors are self-censoring to protect their organisations. This is
The lingering scars of mining: How South African mines left Basotho miners to die
Families, moved to make way for Mohale Dam, lose court battle
20 years after they were displaced by the Mohale Dam, court tells families to share their compensation payout. Mohale Dam photo: Sechaba Mokhethi Sechaba Mokhethi Five families who were moved to make way for the Mohale Dam in the Lesotho mountains have lost a court battle over compensation. Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA)
