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Cape Town – Regional leaders are set to meet on Friday to find a solution to Lesotho's political crisis, following the death of former army commander Maaparankoe Mahao, reports say.
Mahao was allegedly shot dead by members of the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) in his village home on the outskirts of Maseru last week.
According to the SABC, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is SADC’s Lesotho mediator, said the mountain kingdom's political situation was now in the hands of an extra-ordinary regional heads of state summit.
Ramaphosa, who met with the country’s main political players, opposition parties as well as civil society groups, said none of the events that sparked the latest crisis were beyond resolution.
"Nearly everyone we met is deeply worried and concerned about his death. And it is this that has prompted the leaders in the region to call a summit of the double Troika," Ramaphosa said.
Watch the video below as Ramaphosa speaks to SACB about the situation in Lesotho.
Meanwhile, The Citizen reported on Thursday that South Africa will send pathologists, and Zimbabwe and Namibia will send investigators, to probe Mahao's murder.
The report said Lesotho’s Prime Minister Pakalithi Mosisili had requested that the investigations be carried out.
Mosisili claimed he didn't know how Mahao was killed, but that the army told government that Mahao attempted to resist arrest and there was an exchange of fire.
According to reports, opposition leaders, journalists and lawyers who have spoken out against Mosisili and his defence force chief, Tlali Kamoli, are fleeing the country.
Three opposition leaders have fled the country, fearing for their lives. This includes former prime minister Tom Thabane, who was an ally of Mahao.
A Times Live report indicated the possibility of military intervention by SADC nations to restore stability to Lesotho.
