SA police: No evidence of Lesotho rebel army
Lesotho’s security chiefs have claimed there are illegal military training camps on SA farms
Commissioner of Police Borotho Matsoso said on 18 July that a group called Malata Naha was giving military training to Basotho youths on South African farms. Photo from Lesotho Mounted Police Service Facebook page
The South African Police Service (SAPS) says the country’s intelligence structures have been investigating Lesotho’s claims that there are illegal military camps on farms in South Africa training a rebel army. But the Hawks have yet to find any evidence of this.
This follows an extraordinary press briefing on 18 July by Lesotho’s top security chiefs, who claimed that a rebel group known as Malata Naha is recruiting Basotho youth and providing military training in South Africa.
On Saturday, SAPS issued a statement after GroundUp reported that the South African authorities were mum on the allegations.
Previously, Lesotho Commissioner of Police Borotho Matsoso had said the country was working closely with South African officials to investigate the camps.
In its statement, SAPS said: “The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the Hawks, through its Crimes Against the State (CATS) unit, has been roped in to investigate. Various searches have been undertaken by CATS at identified farms, and no such evidence has been found to date.”
SAPS said National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola had met with all nine provincial commissioners and Matsoso’s claims were high on the agenda. SAPS noted that a preliminary report from its Crime Intelligence Division was reviewed. Intelligence structures have heightened operations to verify the allegations.
In a further development, SAPS confirmed that Masemola has directly engaged with Matsoso. “Both commissioners agreed that law enforcement intelligence structures from both countries are on the ground investigating the existence of such camps,” the statement read.
Masemola said, “The safety and security of all people living in South Africa is of paramount importance, and anyone found committing illegal acts will face the full might of the law.”
The SAPS statement said South Africans are urged not to panic or worry as police from both countries remain on high alert and are working jointly to establish the facts on the ground.
Genuine claim? Or a ruse to crackdown on dissent?
By GroundUp Editor
The claim by the Lesotho security chiefs that military training by Lesotho rebels has been taking place in the Free State, with the intention of capturing parts of South Africa long claimed to be part of Lesotho, is extraordinary. There is an adage that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. So far, no evidence at all has been offered to support the claim.
When questioned by journalists, Lesotho’s Commissioner of Police Borotho Matsoso said the “insurgency” was under investigation, and he could not give more details. He said Lesotho was working with the South African authorities. But when we questioned the South African authorities, they appeared to be taken off guard by the claim.
This is not to say the allegation is false, but a more mundane explanation is that securocrats in Lesotho have made the claim in order to justify a crackdown on dissent.
Tšepo Lipholo, a Member of Parliament in Lesotho and leader of the Basotho Covenant Movement, an opposition political party involved in a campaign for the return of territories “conquered” from Lesotho, was arrested on 2 July. Lipholo’s politics may seem rather bizarre: there’s not the slightest prospect of the Free State, parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape and the Northern Cape being “returned” to Lesotho. Nevertheless, locking a Member of Parliament up for nearly a month raises cause for concern.
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