Africa-Press – Lesotho. CLEMENT Makhethe, the Qoaling businessman gunned down at his gate last Friday, had been stalked by crime since 2018. His widow, ’Maitumeleng Makhethe, told thepost yesterday that his death could have been avoided if the police had solved the previous crimes perpetrated against the couple, their family and businesses.
Makhethe said none of the previous seven cases they reported to the police since 2018 had been solved. The couple ran two bars in Lesia and Tsoapo-le-Bolila in Maseru.
Makhethe was shot dead at his gate and his car was stolen. Makhethe said she was worried that even her husband’s murder might not be solved. “I have given a statement to the police but I already know that they will say they will investigate this crime and it will only end there,” Makhethe said.
She has RCI numbers of all the unsolved cases they reported to the police. The first case was reported on April 14, 2018, after armed robbers stormed their home demanding money and blankets.
“I had to give them because my husband was at the shop so I was alone and had no choice,” she said.
The family decided to put burglar bars but the contractor did not finish the door leading to the house from the garage. In early June 2018, thieves broke in and stole M50 000.
On June 24, 2018, their bar at Lesia was robbed. A month later thieves ambushed the couple on their way from town and beat the husband. The thieves, she said, then tried to grab her handbag but some passersby intervened and they ran away.
There were burglaries at their business in October 2018, September 2019 as well as November and December 2020. Makhethe said none of those cases has been solved.
She said around midnight on Friday she saw her husband’s car, through a CCTV camera, approaching their gate. She saw him get out of the car to open the gate.
“I immediately heard gunshots and I saw the car leaving the gate,” she said. Makhethe said she called her husband’s phone but it was off.
“After midnight people gathered here and they told me that my husband was shot and left at the gate while I thought they shot him and took him somewhere.
” Police spokesperson, Senior Superintendent Mpiti Mopeli, said he is not officially aware of Makhethe’s murder but had seen the news on social media. He promised that the police will explain what happened to the other cases that the Makhethes have reported since 2018.
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