Africa-Press – Lesotho. THE Director of Immigration, ‘Mantšebo Motšoanakaba, has been suspended from duty on allegations she failed to register the visa of the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to South Africa and Lesotho, Mahash Saeed Al Hameli, resulting in him being denied entry into the country via the Moshoshoe I international Airport.
The incident has caused massive embarrassment to Lesotho as the UAE is one of the world’s top economies with massive investment potential into any economy.
Mr Al Hameli was denied entry into Lesotho on 26 April 2023. His visa had been processed but was allegedly not registered at the airport to facilitate his passage once he landed.
The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police Principal Secretary, Tumelo Raboletse, suspended Ms Motšoanakaba from 10 May 2023 pending investigations into her conduct which he termed an “embarrassment” to the country.
Mr Raboletse had written her a show cause letter on 3 May 2023 asking her to explain why he could not suspend her. In his 9 May 2023 suspension letter, Mr Raboletse said Ms Motšoanakaba’s reasoning for the failure to facilitate the Mr Al Hameli’s visa were not convincing enough but rather reinforced the need to suspend her.
Ms Motšoanakaba subsequently ran to the High Court to overturn her suspension but much to her chagrin and disappointment, Justice Fumane Khabo rejected the urgency of her application on 1 June 2023.
This means Ms Motšoanakaba’s application will follow the long queue of unheard High Court cases, with the possibility of being heard only next year. She could even have been fired by that time as there is nothing prohibiting the government from proceeding with a disciplinary process against her.
According to the letters exchanged between Mr Raboletse and Ms Motšoanakaba, the UAE ambassador’s visa was applied for on 20 April 2023 ahead of his 26 April 2023 visit to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lejone Mpotjoane.
“It was your duty to accordingly register or cause to be registered the said visa to facilitate entry by the ambassador.
For an incomprehensible reason and notwithstanding the fact that the visa had been sent to Foreign Affairs, the ambassador was denied entry or told not to board the flight (from South Africa to Moshoeshoe I) on account of an unverifiable visa,” Mr Raboletse wrote on 3 May 2023.
“This has caused a great embarrassment to the government and has an effect of tainting the relationship between the government and that of the United Arab Emirates.
Ms Motšoanakaba’s 8 May 2023 response was that she had duly facilitated Mr Al Hameli’s visa but it could not be sent to immigration officers at Moshoeshoe I Airport because there was no email facility at the airport.
“The request for visa was processed and approved by myself on 21 April 2023. As a standard practice, copies of approval are dispatched to the applicant/client and the immigration section of Moshoeshoe I International Airport.
“My inquiries revealed that the international section dispatched the visa approval letter by email to the applicant/client (AL Hameli) on 21 April 2023. A copy was also dispatched by email to Foreign Affairs-Lesotho High Commission (in) Pretoria.
I must hasten to say that a similar copy could not be dispatched by email to Moshoeshoe I because the Immigration unit there does not have an email facility.
Ms Motšoanakaba said a physical copy of the visa and a register of visas was supposed to be sent to Moshoeshoe I but the ministry’s driver could not do so on 24 April 2023.
This because the register of visas was not ready. Ms Motšoanakaba said she was out of office until 28 April 2023 and therefore the register had to be prepared by Immigration Manager, Tšepiso Mosasane.
She said the register could still not be sent to the airport on 25 April 2023 due to transport challenges. This explanation was not convincing for Mr Raboletse who then opted to suspend Ms Motšoanakaba on 10 May 2023 in order to pave way for investigations into her alleged misconduct.
“There are many unanswered questions that are glaring from the response that need to be answered – more so where state guests whom we had full knowledge of their visit, could be subjected to such treatment.
“A clear example would be that of a problem of a car, vis-à-vis the fact that the documents were not ready when the driver came to collect them.
One does not know which of these assertions caused the problem and none of these were escalated to the appropriate authorities for action/intervention. Your good self should be suspended from office and from performing your duty. . . from 10 May 2023.
You are not to be seen in the office premises during suspension, unless you have made a request to my office and same has been approved,” Mr Raboletse wrote.
Ms Motšoanakaba then rushed to court on 24 May 2023 seeking a review and setting aside of Mr Raboletse’s decision to suspend her. Justice Khabo heard preliminary arguments from Ms Motšoanakaba’s Lawyer, Lineo Leuta while the application was opposed by state lawyer, Mojalefa Shakhane.
The judge ruled that Ms Motšoanakaba’s application was not urgent. Ms Motšoanakaba had wanted the High Court to “review and set aside my suspension on account of irrationality”.
It’s not clear from court papers whether the ambassador was denied entry when he had actually landed at Moshoeshoe I or while still in South Africa. Either way, the mistreatment of a figure from such an important country is indicative of the bureaucratic incompetence that hobbles investment and economic progress in Lesotho.
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