MASERU, 2nd October 2026, A six hundred thousand quarry deal has landed three people in court, with the accused facing charges of corruption, fraud and money laundering over the alleged use of fraudulent community consultation documents to obtain a mining licence at Ha Lekoro, Ha Motloheloa.
The accused are Thabo Thafeng, of Booms Holdings (Pty) Ltd of Sehlabeng sa Thuathe, Berea Chief Maphika Mabusetsa; and Bitsoane Liholo, Secretary of the Mohlakeng Community Council. The allegations centre on the acquisition of a quarry mining licence by Thafeng’s company, allegedly through false representations concerning consultations with the Ha Lekoro community.
It is alleged that Chief Mabusetsa wrote a letter confirming that Thabo Thafeng had consulted the Ha Lekoro community and concluded an agreement with it, despite allegedly knowing that no such consultation or agreement had taken place. Liholo is further alleged to have confirmed the contents of the Chief’s letter by writing a separate letter stating that Thafeng had consulted and reached an agreement with the community, when allegedly no such consultation had taken place.
Moreover, the two letters were subsequently included in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report submitted to the Ministry of Environment as part of the mining licence application process. Thafeng is also alleged to have attached a community agreement relating to Ha Rathoko village in support of the application for the quarry mining licence. Following the alleged acquisition of the licence, Thafeng is said to have entered in to a subcontracting arrangement with China GEO Engineering Corporation Pty Ltd, using the mining licence, and allegedly received M600 000.00
It is further indicated that the accused acted together between October 2021 and February 2025, sharing a common purpose to pursue an unlawful act, making false representations and abusing their positions for their own benefit. The accused are charged with corruption in contravention of Section 21(3)(b), read with Section 34 of the Prevention of Corruption and Economic Offences Act No. 5 of 1999, as amended in 2006.
They are further charged with money laundering in contravention of Section 25(1)(a), read with Section 25(4) of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act of 2008, as amended by Section 20 of the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act No. 7 of 2006. The accused also face fraud charges under Section 68(1), read with Sections 109 and 26(1) of the Penal Code Act of 2010. The three accused appeared before Magistrate Khachane yesterday and were each granted M3,000 bail and M20,000 surety. The matter has been postponed to 13 October 2026 for set down.