…after being convicted of aggravated assault
Hopolang Mokhopi
NOTORIOUS double-murder accused, Lefa Mabusane, has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, with half the sentence suspended for two years, after being convicted of assaulting Mpho Matholi in 2024.
Mabusane will therefore serve an effective three years behind bars.
Maseru Magistrates’ Court Magistrate Lerato Ntelane found Mabusane guilty of aggravated assault after rejecting his defence argument that the injuries suffered by Matholi did not meet the legal threshold for the offence.
Mabusane had pleaded guilty to the charge, but his lawyer, Advocate Lepeli Molapo, subsequently asked the court to acquit him, arguing that the facts admitted by his client did not establish aggravated assault.
The case arose from an incident on 14 April 2024 in which Mabusane allegedly strangled Matholi for close to an hour and threatened to kill her.
Delivering judgment yesterday, Magistrate Ntelane said that although Matholi did not suffer serious bodily injury, Mabusane’s conduct and the circumstances surrounding the assault demonstrated his intention to cause serious bodily harm.
The court heard that Mabusane and Matholi had initially met at a shop at Maseru Mall, where he offered her a lift. She declined, saying she was about to take a taxi.
They later connected on Facebook, started communicating and agreed to meet.
On the day of the incident, Mabusane arrived in a black Golf and Matholi got into the vehicle. They drove to her home and later Mabusane asked her to accompany him to Naleli.
Upon arriving at Naleli, Matholi realised they were at a guest house. Mabusane allegedly paid money to security before returning to the vehicle and asking her to enter.
She refused and asked him to take her home.
According to the Crown’s case, when they arrived at her home, Mabusane asked Matholi to kiss him. When she refused, he told her he was going to kill her.
“He proceeded to strangle the victim for close to an hour,” Crown Counsel Advocate Moeketsi Tšolo told the court.
Matholi managed to open the vehicle door in an attempt to escape, but Mabusane allegedly grabbed her by the throat and dragged her back into the vehicle.
“She eventually managed to escape and reported the matter to the police the following day,” Adv Tšolo said.
Adv Molapo accepted the Crown’s summary as true and correct but argued that the admitted facts did not establish aggravated assault.
He relied on the medical report, which recorded bruises to Matholi’s head, tenderness and bruising to her neck and bruises on her knees. The injuries were classified as having resulted from moderate force.
The defence argued that the injuries did not amount to serious bodily injury or permanent disability and therefore did not satisfy the requirements for aggravated assault.
Adv Tšolo, however, argued that Matholi had been strangled until she could not breathe and that such conduct could result in death.
He submitted that even if the court found that aggravated assault had not been established, Mabusane should at least be convicted of the competent verdict of common assault.
“He cannot walk out scot-free while there is evidence that he strangled a person,” Adv Tšolo said.
In her judgment, Magistrate Ntelane also rejected the suggestion that Mabusane’s guilty plea was necessarily an expression of remorse, finding that he appeared to have believed that he could ultimately be acquitted because the admitted facts did not correspond with the charge.
The court recognised gender-based violence as a serious crime while also taking into account, in mitigation, that Matholi did not suffer serious physical injuries.
Mabusane was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment, with three years suspended for two years on condition that he is not convicted of a similar offence during the suspension period.
Meanwhile, Mabusane is also facing trial for the murders of nurses Mpho Khutsoane and Mathebane Ramatabooe in the High Court.
The nurses were allegedly killed at Ha Mosalla, Thaba-Bosiu, on 11 August 2014. He is also charged with robbing Khutsoane of her blue Volkswagen Golf 4.
Mabusane was initially charged alongside Setsokotsane Majalle, who was later acquitted and became a state witness.
His murder trial has been postponed to 1 December 2026 after the Crown reported difficulties tracing three witnesses, including Mabusane’s former girlfriend, who are believed to be in South Africa.
Mabusane was granted bail in the murder case in June 2024 but remained in custody in connection with the Matholi assault matter.
The assault case also previously raised questions about how Mabusane came to be walking free despite prosecutors believing he was still in custody.
In July, the prosecution discovered that he was no longer at the Lesotho Correctional Service remand facility, despite the authorities’ understanding that he remained incarcerated. Magistrate Ntelane, who had never granted him bail, ordered his immediate return to custody, while the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions launched an investigation into how he had been released.
