Life for two Lesotho nationals who shot dead two men at Maseru Bridge taxi rank

Two Lesotho nationals have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of two men at the Maseru Bridge Port of Entry in the Free State in June 2024, after South Africa secured their extradition to stand trial.

Tumelo Tsiu, 32, and Lineo Walatsa, 30, were sentenced in the Ficksburg High Court on October 23. They had been convicted of two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. As IOL reported on October 24, both were also sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment for contravening the Immigration Act. They were found not guilty of possessing an unlicensed firearm and of conspiracy to commit murder.

The men they killed were Moholi Mohapi, 31, known as “Bohome”, and Rebone David Sephaka, 40, known as “Serurubele”.

Free State police spokesperson Sergeant Sinah Mpakane said police were called to the long-distance taxi drop-off point near the border post on June 11, 2024, after reports of a shooting. Officers found the two bodies next to a taxi the men had just left, a taxi that had travelled from Johannesburg.

According to the police account, an unknown number of men got out of a white Isuzu bakkie and opened fire on passengers leaving the taxi before driving off. Two other men, identified as Mr Sekantsi and Mr Pitso, were wounded in the attack.

Ladybrand police intercepted the bakkie on the R26 near Manyatseng. Two suspects ran off into the dark, leaving the driver behind. A 9mm firearm was found in the vehicle and seized.

The driver, Seun Gert Moloi, 30, was arrested and appeared in the Ladybrand Magistrate’s Court, where he was granted bail of R8,000. Mpakane said Moloi was shot five times and died two weeks before the trial began.

Tsiu and Walatsa were arrested in Lesotho in July 2024 and brought back to South Africa to face the charges. Mpakane said the extradition followed months of work between the South African Police Service and Lesotho law enforcement agencies under international legal arrangements. The case first came before the Ladybrand Magistrate’s Court on January 7, 2025, and was postponed to January 13 for legal representation to be appointed.

The prosecution was led by investigating officer Warrant Officer M.D. Machalotsa, prosecutor Advocate Lucky Bontes and Judge Mbhele.

Maseru Bridge is one of the busiest crossings between South Africa and Lesotho, carrying taxis, freight and daily commuters between the Free State and Maseru. The drop-off point where the two men were killed sits on the South African side, where long-distance taxis from Gauteng set passengers down.

For readers following the case, the sentence closes a prosecution that depended on another country handing over its own nationals to face South African charges, and on a trial that went ahead after one of the original accused was killed before it opened.