MASERU — A Maseru woman is suing a National Assembly clerk for M2 million for allegedly being involved in an adulterous relationship with her husband.
’Mapalesa Lechesa told the High Court on Monday that ’Malephallo Mohasoa, who is a clerk at the National Assembly, is in an adulterous affair with her husband.
Lechesa is claiming M700 000 for contumelia and M1.3 million for loss of comfort and services of the spouse.
She claims in court papers that she married Lefu Lechesa, the man at the centre of the dispute, on July 2 1977.
“The marriage still subsists,” Lechesa says in the court papers.
Lechesa said the alleged affair between Mohasoa and her husband was well-known in the community and had caused her heart-ache.
“I feel very much humiliated among my friends, in my community, church members, colleagues, many of these were aware of ’Malephallo’s love relationship with my husband,” Lechesa said in her court papers.
She alleged Mohasoa had deprived her of the love and care that she expected from her husband.
She said at one time when she fell sick between August 25 and October 2 2007, her husband failed to give her the necessary attention because of his affair with Mohasoa.
“Instead of attending to me and giving me full care, he had divided attention.
“’Malephallo (Mohasoa) would just phone him and he would go leaving me alone sometimes at night,” she said.
“Furthermore, my husband had long stopped giving me my conjugal rights.”
Lechesa also alleged that Mohasoa had caused her husband to fail to give full parental attention to his children.
She said as a result of emotional harassment, she lost 18kg within a few months and became mentally traumatised.
Lechesa also claimed that she had at one time even considered committing suicide as a result of the alleged adulterous affair.
She said she had to be hospitalised for a week in Bloemfontein, South Africa, for counselling and psychiatric care because of the alleged affair.
The Lechesa family’s domestic worker, Tsienyane Lebusa, testified in the High Court on Monday that she was convinced that Mohasoa and Lefu Lechesa were lovers.
Lebusa, who has worked for the Lechesa family for 10 years, said at one time she entered the sitting room and found the two in a compromising position.
“When I entered the sitting room at New Europa, I found ntate Lechesa eating KFC (fast food) while putting his hand on the thigh of the defendant,” Lebusa said.
She said she concluded that the two were indeed in love.
Lebusa said even when the family moved to Ladybrand, South Africa, Mohasoa would continue to harass them on the phone, sometimes phoning five times in a day.
“When we left New Europa for Ladybrand we thought we would have peace of mind from the defendant’s phone calls,” Lebusa said.
“But the phone calls looking for the plaintiff’s husband continued.”
Lebusa said when she confronted Mohasoa to stop the calls, she had defiantly told her that she would continue to phone “until they got used to it”.
Mohasoa has however denied all allegations against her.
“I knew the plaintiff’s husband sometime before 2006 at a Basotho Congress Party rally and subsequent thereto the plaintiff’s husband requested me to assist him with assignments while he was pursuing his MBA course in the Republic of South Africa,” said the defendant.
She also said that while ’Mapalesa Lechesa had found her in her residential home typing for her husband, “nothing sinister had happened between them”.
The case, which is before Justice Ts’eliso Monaphathi, continues.
