The South African Police Service searched a truck and its attached trailer at the Maseru border post on 23 January 2018.[1] The driver was Paseka Peter Phohleli, the younger brother of Lesotho deputy health minister ’Manthabiseng Phohleli’s husband.[1] He was detained, appeared in the Ladybrand Magistrate’s Court on charges of dealing in dagga, and was released on bail of R30,000.[1] He was expected to reappear in court the following week, according to SAPS spokesperson Captain Phumelelo Dhlamini.[1] He claimed he was merely the driver, had no knowledge of the trailer’s contents, and was travelling to Bloemfontein on personal business.[1] The truck belonged to Storm Transport, a Lesotho-registered company owned by Lebohang Simon Phohleli, the deputy minister’s husband.[1]
Officers found 147 bags of cannabis hidden in a secret compartment, described by Ficksburg police as a false compartment inside a container on the back of the truck.[1] Police weighed the dagga at 3,624.6 kg and gave its street value as R5-million.[1] Lebohang confirmed the truck and trailer belonged to him and said they were frequently hired by Asian industrialists in Lesotho to move goods to and from their factories.[1]
Lesotho permits dagga cultivation for medicinal and scientific purposes, with the deputy minister’s ministry responsible for issuing cultivation licences, and two international companies had been approved to grow dagga.[1] The deputy minister called the incident an unfortunate misuse of her husband’s truck that should not be associated with the ministry’s strictly medical cannabis licences, saying only the liquid extract could be legally exported.[1] She added that she no longer held shares in her husband’s business and that their careers were not connected.[1]
