One of the reasons Basotho flocked to vote the Revolution for Prosperity (RFP) into power was because they believed the message of the party’s main sponsors that they were already far too rich. The only thing they now wanted was to devote the rest of their lives to serving Basotho.
We hate to say it. But the reality is that this week’s announcement that Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police Minister, Lebona Lephema, will now be the beneficiary of a majority stake in Mothae Mine, in which the government owns 30 percent equity, vindicates those who now say Basotho were sold a dummy.
After all, there is no such thig as enough money. Those who have it keep on wanting more. So contrary to the RFP’s claims, its ministers are in it for themselves.
We agree with the opposition who have condemned the deal between Mr Lephema and Lucapa Diamonds, the owners of Mothae, as stinking to the high heavens.
Of course, the nation will be told the usual canard that Mr Lephema is really not that much involved in Mothae’s operations and won’t be involved in its day-to-day operations. His sons will run the project as Minister of Natural Resources, Moleko Mohlomi, intimates elsewhere in this publication. That however misses the point. It makes a bad situation even worse.
A minister using his position to benefit his sons? The optics will be even worse? The fact is that ministers elected on promises to fight corruption should not be negotiating deals for themselves and their families particularly in projects in which the government they run has stakes.
The government had promised to buy the equity in Mothae, develop the mine for later offloading to, preferably a consortium of deserving Basotho. That would have been a better option. Alternatively, the expectation would have been that the 70 percent equity would be auctioned off through a transparent public process. At least that is what the government ought to have insisted upon. But in their wisdom, cabinet members have seemingly decided to empower one of their own.
We therefore join in the chorus of all those condemning this transaction for its rottenness. In simple commercial terms, one could argue that Lucapa are free to sell their majority equity to whoever they want. That is the essence of commerce. But that’s wrong. The situation is not that simple. Mothae is an asset in which the State is invested. The more transparency is fostered in the operation the merrier. If the situation was as simple as saying Lucapa is free to enter its own commercial arrangements with whoever it wants, then it would not have been bound to ask the government’s approval to dispose its stake in the first place. We are not privy to what the actual agreement between the government and Lucapa says over pre-emption rights. But the reason the law obliges the government to have an equity stake in mining operations is to empower it to oversee the extraction of the county’s minerals for the benefit of the nation.
In fact, Lucapa is as culpable as all others involved in this Mothae corruption. Its decision to conclude a private sweet-heart deal with Mr Lephema is abominable. But it also proves Africa’s resource curse and the destructive tendencies of Western mining conglomerates whose main mission is to loot African resources. And when things don’t go their way, they simply vote with their feet as Lucapa is now doing.
Granted, Lucapa is a commercial enterprise and it needs to make commercial decisions. But its lack of sensitivity in rushing to conclude a deal with a cabinet minister – in an operation it had barely run for a reasonable period usually germane to mining operations – is problematic.
Without belaboring the point, we urge Mr Matekane to begin reining in his ministers or risk losing the trust of Basotho who believed his promises to change their fortunes. What would all the people who believed his promise that he was their savior feel on seeing his government facilitating the granting of prime national assets to his ministers?
As Democratic Congress spokesman, Serialong Qoo, rightly asked? Didn’t Mr Matekane and his fellow travelers in the RFP promise that they are in fact coming in to donate their wealth to impoverished Basotho? Didn’t they promise they will be using their own equipment to help rehabilitate the country’s roads to prove they are in it to serve the people? Has that been happening?
The good thing about Basotho is they have proven to be among the most politically active citizens in the world. You sell them a dummy and they will punish you at the next available opportunity.
Mr Matekane himself set a good example by divesting from Letšeng.
His Matekane Mining Investment Company (MMIC) went into a mutual agreement to terminate the premier’s lucrative contract with Letšeng on 15 November 2023 – a full 11 months before its expiration.
By so doing, Mr Matekane immediately confounded his critics who had said the reason of him entering politics was to protect the very same contract that had made him filthy over the years. Prior to the PM taking the plunge into politics ahead of the October 2022 general elections, rumours had been rife that the Democratic Congress, which would have won those elections were it not for the RFP, had planned not to have the contract renewed for Mr Matekane in favour of splitting it among more local players to benefit more Basotho instead of just one man.
The expectation was that Mr Lephema would follow suit and divest from Mothae to avoid the obvious conflict of interest situation. How Mr Matekane can then allow one of his key ministers to do exactly the opposite of the good example he sat is dumbfounding.
Even more perplexing is Minister Moleko’s contention that there is no conflict of interest arising from Mr Lephema or his sons running a company in which the government is part of as a shareholder.
“People should not bring up Letšeng matters at Mothae….” because the two issue are different, the minister tells us elsewhere in this edition.
No Minister you are dead wrong. The issues are no different. Just like Mr Matekane, Mr Lephema’s company had long been rendering earth moving services to Mothae.
When Mr Matekane took the wise decision to divest from Letšeng, after going into politics, Mr Lephema should have followed suit when he joined cabinet.
To try and argue otherwise is an exercise in sophistry. Minister Moleko’s would also want to have all and sundry believe the deal is all about saving jobs at Mothae. Well and good. But how was the decision reached that Minister Lephema’s company is the best vehicle to invest and preserve jobs at the mine? What exactly is his proposition?
Isn’t the need to save jobs the very reason the mine should have been sold in a transparent and accountable manner to select the best person/company to achieve that? How do we know that Mr Lephema’s deal is the best for Mothae when he was made to compete only against himself? The fact that he had rendered services at the mine is neither here nor there?
With no ambiguity nor equivocation, we urge Mr Matekane not to approve this deal and ensure Mothae is sold in a transparent public process to people who are not in his Cabinet. His government must not approve the sell of Lucapa’s stake to Mr Lephema at all. If it does, we have no doubt the opposition would have been gifted with a campaign tool to effectively argue that Basotho were sold a ruse. RFP ministers came into government to safeguard and promote their interests will be the new slogan gifted to the opposition. Mr Matekane and the RFP will fast lose the trust of the people. Infact, the whole RFP project will fail. It’s high time Mr Matekane became decisive in reining soe of his increasingly errant ministers. Lesotho deserves better. The ministers must focus on their jobs and not negotiating private deals. Minister Lephema’s performance has been particularly underwhelming. He is in charge of an important portfolio. He needs to either focus on his job or feel free to return to business.
