The National Police Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), General Fannie Masemola, is in Lesotho, meeting the Police Chief, Advocate Borotho Matsoso, after claims of Basotho-styled military training camps in South Africa. 

The one-day meeting is under way in Maseru and follows claims by Lesotho authorities in who insisted they had credible information about Basotho undergoing military-style training in certain farms within South Africa, as part of the growing campaign to fight for the contentious land in South Africa’s provinces.

The claimed land included parts of the Free State, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. 

General Masemola is leading a delegation of senior officials from various government departments under the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure(NATJOINTS). 

The delegation of senior officials from South Africa includes the Deputy National Commissioner of Policing and co-chair of the NATJOINTS, Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, the head of Interpol in SA, a senior officer from SAPS Crime Intelligence, and a senior officer from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). 

The Lesotho Mounted Police Service delegation is led by Advocate Matsoso and consists of the Deputy Commissioner of police responsible for operations, Deputy Commissioner Likhama Moqhebi, senior officers from the Lesotho Mounted Police Service Crime Intelligence unit, specialised operations, and the detectives unit.

General Masemola will also be engaging with Advocate Matsoso on what the SAPS crime intelligence-driven operations have yielded so far. 

Advocate Matsoso and his delegation are also expected to present a report on what the Lesotho Mounted Police have uncovered this far. Thereafter, a joint statement on the findings will be released, and a way forward will be established. 

Last week, the SAPS confirmed it had not uncovered any Basotho camps within its borders. 

Lieutenant General Mosikili previously told the media that investigations were conducted in different parts of South Africa, but nothing was found to back the Lesotho authorities’ information.

“Yes, we did receive an alert following the revelations made by the police commissioner of Lesotho. We were alerted by the statement that was on his social media account, and we did not rest from the time that we received such. We have deployed all our operatives on the ground to establish the facts, including our bilaterals that we are having, because we do have bilaterals with Lesotho,” Mosikili said to Newzroom Afrika. 

IOL previously reported that a Lesotho member of parliament, Dr Tshepo Lipholo, leader of the Basotho Covenant Movement, a political party that has been leading the charge in demanding the return of Lesotho’s “stolen land” which is part of current-day South Africa, was arrested and charged in the mountain kingdom.

Lipholo faces charges including sedition and incitement, and is also accused of violating the dignity and reputation of Lesotho’s royal family by allegedly declaring himself the “paramount chief of Basotholand” and encouraging young Basotho to prepare for armed struggle. 

It is alleged that audio clips circulating on social media platforms prove these claims.

Lipholo has been leading the charge, calling for certain sections of South Africa to be declared Lesotho’s territory. Limpholo wants the land to be returned to the governance of Lesotho.

Earlier this year, Lipholo travelled to the United Nations (UN), where he submitted a claim that sought to reclaim land lost during the colonial era.

Lesotho’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations distanced itself from Lipholo, stating he was acting on his own agenda, and the UN trip was not sanctioned by the Maseru government.

robin.francke@iol.co.za

IOL

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