National
Dirco mum on reports former Lesotho PM fled to SA─── 07:20 Sat, 23 May 2015
Pretoria - The Department of International Relations and Co-operation had no comment on a report stating that Lesotho’s opposition leader has fled to South Africa.
This comes after the SABC reported that Tom Thabane, the former Lesotho prime minister, had fled his country in fear of his life.
He told the broadcaster that he was able to “brief South African authorities and Southern African Development Community leadership in a recent meeting”.
The Lesotho police said they could not confirm the threat against Thabane, but that they would investigate.
Thabane suspended parliament in June last year to avoid a motion that would have seen him ousted from power after the previous fragile coalition government fell apart.
In August, soldiers attacked police headquarters, looting weapons and killing one officer.
Thabane described the violence as an opposition-backed coup attempt and fled to South Africa, though both his political opponents and the military denied any bid to seize power.
A regionally-brokered snap election in February brought a new coalition government to power, headed by Thabane's predecessor, Pakalitha Mosisili.
Lesotho is seen as strategically important to South Africa as it provides 90% of the water to Johannesburg city.
