…as Minister is accused of usurping Director of Immigration’s powers
…director challenges transfer to Foreign Affairs
Mathatisi Sebusi / Hopolang Mokhopi
MINISTER of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police, Lebona Lephema, is allegedly “hellbent on removing” the Director of Immigration, Mantšebo Motšoanakaba, from office and has allegedly even assumed some of her statutory functions.
Ms Motšoanakaba claims she has been unable to perform her duties since her official stamps were confiscated, although she does not state by who, effectively grounding her office.
She further alleges that Mr Lephema suspended her several times before ultimately engineering her transfer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, where she is expected to take up the post of Director of Consular Affairs.
Now, Ms Motšoanakaba, who has served as Director of Immigration since 2019, has approached the High Court seeking an urgent order to block the transfer, which she argues was hurried, unlawful and procedurally flawed.
She states categorically that Mr Lephema does not want her in office.
“It is important to inform this court that at the centre of the controversy herein is the Minister responsible for the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police, Mr Lebona Lephema,” Ms Motšoanakaba states in her court papers.
“My battle with this minister can be traced as far back as 2022 when he became the minister. He did a lot of things to ensure that I vacate the office. He influenced the principal secretary to suspend me for no reason in 2023. The court found my suspension to be unlawful and set it aside with costs. The minister was still not happy with that finding and has continued to fight against me to date.
“At the time the letter transferring me was issued, Mr Lephema was acting Minister of Public Service, as the incumbent (Stephen Mputi) was out of the country on official business. For this reason, I place the blame squarely on his doorstep. This view is further supported by the fact that no reasons were provided for my transfer.”
Ms Motšoanakaba explains that her primary duties include issuing visas to visitors to Lesotho, while the minister’s role is limited to issuing residence permits, with her assistance. However, she claims Mr Lephema unlawfully usurped her powers and began issuing visas himself.
“On 28 March 2023, the minister issued a memo suspending the issuance of visas and directing that any urgent applications be compiled and submitted to his office for guidance or action. As a result of this suspension and his takeover of my duties, a serious backlog developed. This was abnormal, unlawful and amounted to an illegality.
“In an attempt to clear the backlog he had caused, the minister delegated my juniors, whom he named, to approve visa applications. This work is primarily mine as the head of the section.
“The objectives of the minister are discernible from the memo: to unlawfully frustrate my duties as Director of Immigration Services, promote insolence by appointing my juniors without consulting me, destroy staff morale and hamper smooth service delivery.
“Later, the minister lifted the suspension of my duties, but only after appointing people of his choice to perform my functions.”
Ms Motšoanakaba says the minister escalated efforts to remove her by repeatedly suspending her, at times allegedly using the police to eject her from office.
“I was suspended on allegations of releasing confiscated passports to certain individuals. I served the suspension and returned to work. I was also suspended on allegations of mishandling the visa of the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, and when that suspension lapsed, it was extended.
“In December 2023, the minister sent members of the police Special Operations Unit to forcibly evict me from my office. I was never informed of any wrongdoing or criminal charge. There was no case at all. The minister simply wanted to intimidate and harass me.
“I later returned to work, only to be suspended again for three weeks. These suspensions were the subject of litigation (CIV/APN/0378/2023), concluded on 15 March 2024, when the court declared them null and void. I duly resumed duty.
“Despite the court order, the stamps I use to execute my functions were never returned to me.”
She says she wrote to the Principal Secretary requesting the return of the stamps but received no response, prompting her to escalate the matter to the Government Secretary.
“The Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service, Mrs (Makhoabane) Ledimo, was tasked to mediate. To date, she has failed to resolve the issues, including the return of my stamps and office keys. I had to purchase my own keys to access my office.”
Ms Motšoanakaba says she was shocked when, on 4 November 2025, she received a letter from Ms Ledimo transferring her to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was given three days to show cause why she should not be transferred. Although she responded the following day requesting reasons for the move, none were provided.
She then approached the Labour Court to challenge the transfer. While the matter was still pending, she proceeded on leave on 16 December 2025.
“On 22 December 2025, the third respondent (PS Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police) issued a memo informing all heads of sections that I had been transferred. I only became aware of this memo via WhatsApp on 23 December 2025 at 4.32pm, while I was still on leave. I had not been served with the transfer letter and was shocked.
“On 29 December 2025, upon my return from leave, I was summoned to the Acting Principal Secretary’s office, where I found the second respondent (Ledimo) and the Director of Human Resources, Mrs ‘Maqacha Phafoli. I was then handed the transfer letter and informed that my post was now vacant and would soon be advertised.”
The Lesotho Times visited Ms Motšoanakaba’s office this week and found it locked.
She has since escalated the matter to the High Court, seeking an urgent interdict to block her transfer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The case was scheduled to be heard by Justice Molefi Makara on Tuesday but was postponed to Monday, when Ms Motšoanakaba’s lawyer, Advocate Kuili Ndebele, and state counsel are expected to argue the urgency of the application.
