Selate arrested in SA

…after “absconding” Lesotho trial in March

…now challenges warrants underpinning Lesotho’s extradition bid

Hopolang Mokhopi

ALLEGED M50 million fraud mastermind, Lehlohonolo Selate, has been arrested in South Africa after months of absconding his trials in Lesotho.

He is currently incarcerated at Kroonstad Prison in South Africa, where he says he is awaiting trial on fraud and money laundering charges in relation to the alleged laundering of proceeds from the M50 million fraud through South African banks.

He resurfaced in a South African where he was arrested and is currently detained after disappearing from Lesotho and allegedly absconding from his many trials in March this year.

Selate is fighting for his release from a South African prison, where he is being held in connection with the money-laundering proceedings arising from the massive M50 million Lesotho fraud.

He has approached the Maseru Magistrates Court seeking the cancellation of two warrants of arrest issued against him by the same court in March and in May 2026, arguing that they were unlawfully obtained and issued.

The M50 million case

Selate is one of several accused persons in the long-running case involving the alleged theft of more than M50 million from the Ministry of Finance.

He was charged in the Maseru Magistrates Court in October 2021 alongside Ntṧeliseng Lawrence, Mookho Rafono, Tlali Mokoaleli, Thabang Nkoe, Hlabathe Phafoli, Thithili Makhesi, Maqoboto Lepolesa, Fako Molefe and his (Selate) estranged wife, Karabelo Makara.

The group was charged with allegedly defrauding the Ministry of Finance of M50 million by “purporting to pay for services rendered to the government whereas it was for their own personal gain”.

The alleged fraud was committed between October 2020 and September 2021 in the Maseru district.

According to the charges, the accused allegedly made false representations to the Central Bank of Lesotho, claiming that the Ministry of Finance had authorised the transfer of M50 million from its expenditure account into accounts belonging to various companies.

The companies named in the charges were Nivana Holdings Pty Ltd, Traggulogy Pty Ltd, Stone Curlew Holdings Pty Ltd, Sunny Penny Pty Ltd, Victorious General Dealer, Moletsima General Dealer, Hazel Nuts General Dealer and Plexus Suppliers Pty Ltd.

The accused were each released on M5000 bail and ordered to provide M100 000 surety, except Selate, who was charged in absentia after fleeing to South Africa.

Police and prosecution sources say Selate had fled to South Africa in 2018 after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with a separate M17 million fraud case.

Investigators allege that he crossed the border without using a passport and was eventually arrested in Maputsoe in November 2021 following a sting operation.

Selate briefly regained his freedom on 13 March 2023, when Central Chief Magistrate ‘Matankiso Nthunya ordered his release after finding that he had spent longer than the statutory period in remand without being brought to trial.

However, police officers were waiting outside the Lesotho Correctional Service premises and immediately rearrested him in connection with a separate M460 000 fraud case.

Selate was subsequently granted bail by Resident Magistrate Nthabiseng Moopisa on 11 April 2023. She released him on M10 000 bail and M150 000 surety.

The prosecution and police challenged the decision in the High Court, seeking to have his bail set aside, but their appeal was dismissed by Justice ‘Maliepollo Makhetha a month later.

His release reportedly frustrated investigators, who alleged that Selate had repeatedly orchestrated similar fraud schemes after being released and had evaded justice on several occasions.

Police also claimed that he possessed multiple passports and frequently crossed the border without presenting a passport.

Despite these allegations, the courts repeatedly rejected attempts by the prosecution and police to keep Selate in custody.

SA role in M50m investigation

Selate’s detention in South Africa relates to the M50 million fraud as proceeds from the scheme were allegedly moved through South African banks.

South Africa’s Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU), working alongside the Hawks and the Financial Intelligence Centre, collaborated with Lesotho authorities in tracing and securing funds allegedly linked to the fraud.

The South African authorities subsequently obtained final civil forfeiture orders over more than R18 million held in South African bank accounts. The recovered money was later returned to the Lesotho government Treasury.

In November 2023, the South African National Prosecuting Authority also handed over money and assets recovered in connection with a money-laundering case originating in Lesotho to the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO).

He therefore has a criminal case to answer in South Africa alongside his other accomplices from South Africa, Uthando Lorraine Modise and Marcious Lerato Lisene, who were in March 2024 charged for fraud and money laundering by the Ficksburg Magistrates Court.

They were accused along with their company, Traggulogy (Pty) Ltd, which allegedly received around M4 million after a duplicate voucher 013PVR22000092 was used to defraud the Lesotho treasury under the pretence that the company had rendered services to Lesotho government, although that was not the case.

Maseru application

Selate’s latest court application, however, does not deal with the merits of the M50 million fraud case. Instead, he is challenging the legality of the warrants which, he says, are being used to underpin an extradition application against him.

According to his founding affidavit, Selate was informed while attempting to secure bail in South Africa that he could not be released because an extradition application from Lesotho was pending against him. He says the extradition application is founded on two warrants issued by the Maseru Magistrates Court on 5 March and 26 May 2026. He wants both warrants cancelled.

“I am currently incarcerated at Kroonstad Prison in the Republic of South Africa, where I am awaiting trial on other charges,” Selate says in his founding affidavit.

“When I attempted to apply for bail in the South African proceedings, I was informed by the authorities that I could not be released on bail as there is an extradition application pending against me, which is founded upon the existence of warrants of arrest issued against me in the above-mentioned case before this Honourable Court.”

The application is being brought in the Maseru Magistrates Court under case number CRI/T/MSU/0049/18, with the Director of Public Prosecutions cited as the respondent.

Selate is asking the court to cancel both warrants and to order the prosecution to pay the costs of the application. The first warrant was allegedly issued on 5 March 2026, while the second is dated 26 May 2026.

His lawyer, Advocate Katiso Nhlapo, says he discovered the existence of the two warrants after conducting a search of the court record on Selate’s instructions.

According to Selate, both warrants remain extant and unexecuted, but their continued existence has had serious consequences for his liberty.

He says: “Both warrants remain extant and unexecuted, and their continued existence is severely prejudicial to my rights and liberty”.

The Mozambique arrest

In challenging his first warrant, Selate claims he was arrested in Mozambique and, had little time to communicate with his lawyer, Adv Nhlapo, who subsequently informed both the Maseru court and the prosecution about the arrest. However, he does not state why he was arrested in Mozambique.

According to the supporting affidavit by Adv Nhlapo, the prosecutor, Advocate Keketso Motiki, undertook to use the government resources, including Interpol and other international law-enforcement channels, to establish Selate’s whereabouts and the circumstances surrounding his arrest.

Adv Nhlapo says he provided Adv Motiki with telephone numbers Selate had used to contact him from Mozambique and waited for the prosecutor to report back.

He alleges that instead of communicating with him as promised, Adv Motiki told the court that the numbers were not working and subsequently obtained the first warrant without notifying him or giving Selate an opportunity to be heard.

Selate describes the prosecution’s conduct as malicious and an abuse of the court process—claims which have yet to be determined by the court.

He alleges that the prosecution knew he had been arrested in Mozambique and that his lawyer had already informed the court of his whereabouts.

“My Counsel has since been awaiting a response from Adv. Motiki regarding her enquiries. Instead of communicating with my Counsel as she had undertaken to do, she proceeded to inform the Court and, without any notice to my Counsel, applied for and obtained a warrant of arrest against me.”

Adv Nhlapo makes a similar allegation in his supporting affidavit, saying the prosecutor proceeded without giving either him or Selate an opportunity to be heard.

Selate further challenges the legal procedure allegedly followed in obtaining the March warrant.

He argues that Section 33 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act, 1981 requires a warrant application to be made in writing and supported by information taken under oath establishing reasonable grounds of suspicion.

He alleges that no written application was placed before the court and that the information about the telephone numbers was instead presented by the prosecutor “from the bar”.

“The law requires that the information upon which a warrant is based must be placed before the court under oath. The prosecutor cannot simply give evidence from the bar,” Selate says in his affidavit.

He argues that there were also no reasonable grounds for believing that he was evading justice because, at the time, he was allegedly in lawful custody in Mozambique.

According to his application, the court was not properly apprised of all material facts before issuing the warrant.

He maintains that he was not attempting to evade the jurisdiction of the Lesotho court but was instead in custody in a foreign country.

Second warrant challenge

Selate’s challenge to the second warrant is based on what he says are irregularities in the court record.

He claims that there is no minute or record showing that the Maseru Magistrates Court issued a warrant against him on 26 May 2026.

Although the warrant bears the court’s stamp and seal, Selate alleges that it was not lawfully issued by the judicial officer presiding over his matter.

More significantly, he claims that the second warrant does not bear the Magistrate’s signature.

“The absence of the Magistrate’s signature on the second warrant renders it invalid and unenforceable.”

He therefore argues that the second warrant is a nullity because there is no court record showing that it was issued and because it lacks the Magistrate’s signature.

Adv Nhlapo confirms that his examination of the court record revealed no minute reflecting the issuance of the second warrant on 26 May.

He says the absence of a Magistrate’s signature is significant because the first warrant bears one.

However, they do not state the Magistrate’s name.

‘Severely prejudicial’

Selate now claims the warrants have effectively prolonged his detention in South Africa.

He says the warrants have prevented him from securing bail in the neighbouring country because they underpin the extradition proceedings against him.

“The continued existence of the said warrants of arrest is causing me substantial prejudice,” Selate says.

“My liberty is therefore being unlawfully curtailed both in Lesotho and in South Africa by virtue of warrants that were improperly obtained and unlawfully issued,” he says.

He further argues that he is being held in a foreign jurisdiction without having had an opportunity to challenge the validity of the warrants forming the basis of his extradition.

According to Selate, the warrants also portray him as a fugitive from justice and have prevented him from participating fully in proceedings before the Lesotho court.

His lawyer similarly states that the warrants remain extant and that their continued existence is “severely prejudicial” to Selate’s rights and liberty.

Costs against prosecutor sought

Selate is not only seeking cancellation of the warrants but is also asking the court to order Adv Motiki to personally pay the costs of the application.

Such an order, known as de bonis propriis, is being sought on allegations that the prosecution acted improperly and misled the court.

Selate alleges that Adv Motiki failed to disclose to the court that his lawyer had informed her of his arrest in Mozambique, failed to revert to his lawyer as allegedly promised and presented information from the bar rather than under oath.

He also accuses the prosecution of obtaining the first warrant ex parte (without his lawyer’s knowledge) despite knowing that he was represented by counsel.

Adv Nhlapo, in his supporting affidavit, echoes these allegations, submitting that the prosecutor owed the court a duty of candour, honesty and good faith. He alleges that this duty was breached in several respects, including by failing to disclose Selate’s arrest in Mozambique and proceeding without giving him an opportunity to be heard.

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