Lesotho consul ordered to repay 91,000 maloti
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on The Reporter (Lesotho)
Lesotho’s Public Accounts Committee has asked ’Mamolefe Ntaitsane, consul general in Johannesburg, to pay 91,000 maloti to the state for unpaid rent. The sum represents a monthly shortfall of 7,000 maloti accumulated over 13 months, The Reporter reports.
Lesotho’s consul general in Johannesburg, ’Mamolefe Ntaitsane, will have to account for 91,000 maloti in rent not collected by the state, according to a decision by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on 11 November. The sum represents a monthly shortfall of 7,000 maloti accumulated over 13 months since September 2025.
The state-owned property is rented for 14,000 maloti per month, but an occupant identified as Mary pays only 7,000 maloti. She was already occupying the property when Ntaitsane took up her post at the Johannesburg consulate in April 2025, under an arrangement reached with the former head of the diplomatic mission. Rent was previously paid into the former consul general’s personal bank account before being transferred to an official account in September 2025, The Reporter reported.
Ntaitsane acknowledged before the committee that she knew the rent was supposed to be paid into an official account. She explained that she asked Mary to pay the government after discovering that payments were being made into an employee’s personal account, but that the occupant refused to pay the full amount. The committee also questioned her about maintenance contracts deemed irregular and other financial management problems identified by Auditor General ’Mathabo Makenete.
The decision came during the Foreign Affairs and International Relations Ministry’s hearing before the committee. The case concerns the management of a public property occupied by a person who is not employed by the government.
