{"id":32267,"date":"2023-08-06T14:30:24","date_gmt":"2023-08-06T14:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/airline-sues-government"},"modified":"2023-08-06T14:52:52","modified_gmt":"2023-08-06T14:52:52","slug":"airline-sues-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/airline-sues-government","title":{"rendered":"Airline sues government"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>A local airline is suing the government for allegedly allowing diamond mining companies to use South African airlines to transport their diamonds. Mohahlaula Airlines says it should be given preference over South African companies because it is locally owned.<\/p>\n

The company is demanding M10 million which it claims is the value of the business it lost when the government allowed Lesotho\u2019s four diamond mining companies to use South African airlines.<\/p>\n

The basis of its lawsuit is Section 11 of the Mines and Minerals Act of 2005 which the company says compels mines to procure goods and services locally. Mohahlaula says as the only locally registered airline it should be granted the contract to transport all diamonds from Lesotho.<\/p>\n

Registered in 2017, Mohahlaula claims to have secured aircraft, competent pilots and complementary staff, equipment, insurance, permits and licences, and operating capital.<\/p>\n

It however says despite these preparations and meeting international standards the government has continued to allow diamond companies to hire South African companies.<\/p>\n

The company says it has been ignored by the mining companies. In January 2022 the company told the Department of Civil Aviation that the mines were not using the services available in Lesotho contrary to the Act.<\/p>\n

The Department of Civil Aviation then ordered the diamond companies to stop hiring foreign companies and use Mohahlaula. That order however elicited a strong response from the Chamber of Mines which accused the department of trying to create a monopoly that was charging prices way above market rates.<\/p>\n

The chamber told the department, in a letter, that Mohahlaula \u201cdoes not own helicopters and it is using South Africa-based companies to provide the services\u201d.<\/p>\n

It said Mohahlaula uses South African pilots and other resources from South Africa. \u201cThe question is where the local empowerment and capacity building is under this arrangement,\u201d the Chamber said.<\/p>\n

The chamber also accused Mohahlaula of charging extortionate prices. It said Mohahlaula is charging M112 000 for a single trip that Malca Amit, of the South African airlines, charges M54 500.<\/p>\n

The chamber said recently Mothae Diamond Mine had an export and attempted to secure a Temporary Air Space Permit (TASP) without success. This left Mohahlaula as their only option.<\/p>\n

The chamber said Mohahlaula\u2019s charged the mine M122 000 for a trip that normally cost M62 900. \u201cMohahlaula effectively charges 100 percent extra for a service provided by an SA-based company,\u201d the Chamber said.<\/p>\n

It said the mines could not \u201cabsorb any additional costs associated with forced engagement of Mohahlaula\u201d. The chamber said in the past three years, the four largest diamond mines spent M9.3 billion in the procurement of goods and services.<\/p>\n

It said the total local expenditure was M8.3 billion which is 89 percent as compared to the foreign expenditure of M1 billion. Mohahlaula Airlines\u2019 Managing Director, Phafane Nkotsi, told a press conference yesterday that the diamond mines consistently ignored Mohahlaula\u2019s approaches, resulting in a series of unfruitful meetings.<\/p>\n

He said following extensive consultations with the different stakeholders in 2021, the Director of Civil Aviation stopped issuing temporary permits to foreign operators.<\/p>\n

He said when the new government came into power the mines alleged that the Director of Civil Aviation had unilaterally stopped issuing temporary permits. In late November of 2022, he said, Prime Minister Sam Matekane was asked to intervene in the matter.<\/p>\n

He said it was then agreed that it was within the Director of Civil Aviation\u2019s purview to stop issuing these licences and the mines were instructed to comply.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision was duly communicated to the mines on the 25th of January, 2023,\u201d Nkotsi said. He said the mines have now been able to secure temporary permits through fraudulent means.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe collective and unlawful acquisition of fraudulent Temporary Airspace Permits has led to the potential revenue loss of M10 million for Mohahlaula Airlines,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. A local airline is suing the government for allegedly allowing diamond mining companies to use South African airlines to transport their diamonds. Mohahlaula Airlines says it should be given preference over South African companies because it is locally owned. The company is demanding M10 million which it claims is the value of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":32266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,7],"tags":[233,246,424,245],"class_list":["post-32267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-head-lines","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-government","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nAirline sues government - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A local airline is suing the government for allegedly allowing diamond mining companies to use South African airlines to ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/airline-sues-government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Airline sues government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A local airline is suing the government for allegedly allowing diamond mining companies to use South African airlines to ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/airline-sues-government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-06T14:30:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-06T14:52:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/08\/sm_1691320777.489192.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/airline-sues-government#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/airline-sues-government\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Airline sues government\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-06T14:30:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-06T14:52:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/airline-sues-government\"},\"wordCount\":639,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/airline-sues-government#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/08\/sm_1691320777.489192.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"government\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"head lines\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/airline-sues-government#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/airline-sues-government\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/airline-sues-government\",\"name\":\"Airline sues government - 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