…As DCEO probes possible corruption
Mohloai Mpesi
A TUG-OF-WAR over a mining lease has cast a shadow over the new diamond mine located in Nqechane village in Leribe district.
The dispute involves Batho Pele Mine which allegedly conducted the feasibility studies of the area from 2015 to 2020 and Sterlek Mining which allegedly hijacked the operations after it “fraudulently” acquired a mining licence from the now suspended Commissioner of Mines, Phello Tjatja.
Essentially, the dispute boils down to a serious allegation by Batho Pele that Sterlek Mining paid bribes to get awarded mining rights over an area that the former had prospected and had rights over.
So serious is the dispute that it has got the attention of the Minister of Natural Resources Mohlomi Moleko and the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) which is now investigating allegations of malfeasance in the whole deal.
Batho Pele Mine was registered in 2013 and applied for a prospecting licence the same year.
Batho Pele executive director and founder, Tṧolo Mosoeunyane, exclusively told the Lesotho Times they were granted the prospecting permit in May 2015 spanning for two years (from 2015 to 2017). Their licence expired in September 2017, and they applied for an extension.
“We were granted the extension around 2018, and we continued with our work,” Mr Mosoeunyane said.
Mr Mosoenyane also said they reapplied for the licence in 2021, after their initial licence expired in 2020, at the height of Covid-19.
He said Batho Pele Mine had partnered with a South African investor, Jabulisa Kenneth Mahlangu. However, Mr Mahlangu, who had been a member of Batho Pele from November 2013, allegedly left Batho Pele and formed Sterlek in January 2022. Sterlek had now been “illegally” awarded a mining lease on the same property which Batho Pele had spent millions prospecting.
According to company registry records, Mr Mahlangu and his Sterlek founding partners; Lebohang Ramakhula and Mpho Sebeka, relinquished their shareholding in February this year to Teleko Felix Mohloboli, Thoolo Salathiel Sheea, Monaheng Diaho and Teboho Stephen Thakholi. Mr Thakholi is said to be the current executive director of Sterlek but could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone has been unavailable.
Despite incurring prospecting expenses surpassing M27 million, Batho Pele’s application for a mining lease was not considered. Instead, the mining licence was granted to Sterlek Mining, which had not undertaken the required Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Mr Mosoeunyane said. He claims Batho Pele’s documents were stolen and given to Sterlek Mining to enable it to get the licence.
The DCEO’s Chief Investigation Officer, Thabiso Thibeli, confirmed to the Lesotho Times that there was a potential case of corruption and that an investigation is underway.
Mr Moleko also confirmed that the matter was under investigation, with the Principal Secretary (PS) of Natural Resources, Relebohile Lebeta, “frequently assisting” the DCEO.
Despite ongoing investigations, Sterlek Mining began mining operations a fortnight ago, allegedly already recovering diamonds.
Mr Mosoeunyane accuses Mr Tjatja of granting Sterlek Mining a mining lease through unscrupulous methods. When contacted for comment, Mr Tjatja declined to speak, saying he was not currently in office.
Mr Mosoeunyane claims Mr Tjatja unlawfully awarded the mining licence to Sterlek while Batho Pele had already applied for the lease, completed prospecting, have done an EIA, and all the geological tasks required before a licence could be granted.
“In a surprising twist, Sterlek, which had never undergone all the above processes, was granted the mining licence. While Mr Tjatja was pretending to be helping us with the application process, he was surreptitiously using Batho Pele’s documents to acquire a licence for Sterlek,” said Mr Mosoeunyane.
He added: “I believe this is a sign of corruption. I reported the matter to the DCEO after being sent from pillar to post by the Ministry of Natural Resources. Mr Tjatja was pretending to assist us in acquiring a mining licence, but he was busy conspiring to grant Sterlek Mining a lease.
“While we were still in discussions with Commissioner Tjatja, he was preparing documents for Mahlangu, the founder of Sterlek, who was our previous partner. They had already registered a company called Sterlek Mining and applied for a mining lease using our documents—geological report, EIA report, and other research—because Mahlangu had access to these papers as our former partner.”
Mr Mosoeunyane explained that Batho Pele Mine was finalising some details and was ready to start operations, but the country went into elections in 2022, delaying their progress.
“In March 2022, we went to the Commissioner’s office and informed him that we were finalising minor details and would soon begin operations. It was right around the time Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s party was formed. We told the Commissioner we were ready to move forward after the elections, not knowing that he had already issued our licence to Sterlek.
“The then Minister of Mining, Serialong Qoo, was reluctant to sign the lease for Sterlek. He gave them the licence without signing it, possibly hoping to sign it if he returned to government, but he didn’t return.
“After the elections, in January 2023, we visited the office of the Minister of Natural Resources. We informed him that we had drafted the documents, and he said he didn’t have a problem granting us the licence; we just needed to open a joint bank account and provide a bank statement. We struggled to open the bank account because they required a licence and other documents, but FNB opened it temporarily for three months. After that, we were supposed to provide the licence.”
Mr Mosoeunyane continued: “After opening the account in February last year, I received a call from the councillor at Nqechane and some chiefs. They told me that people from a company called Sterlek had shown up with a licence and said they were going to mine there. I went there and confirmed that it was true — they had a licence. I immediately went to the Department of Mines and confronted Mr Tjatja about Sterlek’s licence. He did not deny the allegations.”
“He (Mr Tjatja) said he granted them the licence because he was told they were still working with us. He advised me to write a formal letter with all the details so that he could withdraw the licence and give it to us.”
Mr Mosoeunyane explained that he wrote to the Minister of Natural Resources, who has been making efforts to assist him.
“I wrote to the office of the Minister of Natural Resources; I also wrote to their legal department. When I later approached Mr Tjatja, he was no longer friendly, so I decided to escalate the matter to the Minister. The Minister has been putting in efforts to help me. The Board of Mines had even informed him about what happened, including a person who revealed that Sterlek received the licence through bribery.
“The community is not happy with Sterlek. They know that a company must meet with the community first and conduct an EIA, but Sterlek did none of those; they only showed up with a licence. Sterlek Mining said they paid M500 000 for the licence. The Board of Mining just decided to give another company a lease, disregarding the Mines and Minerals Act 2005, which states that a place that has been prospected cannot be prospected again. The law also states that if the Ministry no longer wants to work with a company, the site should be advertised rather than granting another company a licence on it.
“Our application for a mining lease is still pending, and we have not received any response. We have placed our equipment on other people’s fields, and we have heavy debts. The Department of Mines does not respond to us. People are given a licence for areas we have already prospected, and nothing is being done for us. The worst part is that the documents used by Sterlek to obtain their licence are ours. They forged our geological reports. I went to the DCEO and asked them to intervene because I realised there was a lot of corruption.”
Mr Mosoeunyane said while the DCEO was already working on the matter, he was also contemplating initiating a court case to stop Sterlek Mining from continuing operations until the investigations are finalised.
“DCEO is working on this issue. They have discovered that some of our documents were discarded, and the names of the people responsible are known. These individuals are currently being questioned by the DCEO. Many people are likely to be arrested in connection with this issue very soon. Sterlek Mining started operations last week; I am considering filing an urgent application because the Ministry does not seem willing to stop them. So far, we have lost over M27 million because prospecting is a costly process. We have lost a lot of money. I don’t understand why Mr Moleko is not halting operations at the mine; he could have stopped this a long time ago. Now he says he is waiting for a report from the DCEO before he can proceed,” he said.
Mr Moleko confirmed that the DCEO is investigating the matter while the Ministry is conducting its internal audit to uncover the truth.
“This matter is being investigated by the DCEO and our internal audit team. Mr Mosoeunyane wants things to move at his own pace, but we do not operate that way. We must investigate the facts first. It is true that these issues are before the DCEO. They have their investigation, and we have ours. I cannot ignore such a serious matter, but we must first gather proof before taking action. The PS has been meeting with the DCEO this week to address this issue,” Mr Moleko said.
The DCEO said it had recently met with Mr Lebeta, who was instructed to gather full details on how Sterlek Mining obtained the licence.
“We had a meeting with the PS of Natural Resources and asked her to consult with the Board of Mines to provide us with full details of what happened.
“It is unusual for a company that has already gone through prospecting and all the necessary efforts to have its application ignored while another company is granted a lease. The PS acknowledged that mistakes were made, and we have instructed her to investigate how Sterlek obtained the licence and who was responsible for issuing it. The Board will assist in uncovering the truth,” Mr Thibeli said.
