SIX prison officers who allegedly tortured Bokang Tsoako to death after they rearrested him in December last year were for the first time this week named during a commission of inquiry hearing in Maseru. A soldier who is in detention at the Maseru Correctional Facility, Staff Sergeant Malefane Heqoa, told the commission that he saw the prison officers brutally assaulting Tsoako.
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He mentioned Correctional Sergeants Sepiriti Malefane, Thato Mohlaka, Senekane, Nkhapetla, Chief Correctional Officers Posa, and Mpelo as the officers who killed Tsoako.
“I managed to witness the assault as I was waiting to be taken to Makoanyane Hospital after I was personally assaulted,” S/Sgt Heqoa said.
Tsoako was among prisoners who escaped in December last year but were rearrested on December 22. Prison officers then subjected the rearrested prisoners to an order of violence.
S/Sgt Heqoa said he had requested permission to go to Makoanyane Hospital for treatment after he was assaulted.
It was while he was negotiating with the officers for permission to go to the hospital for treatment that he witnessed Tsoako’s brutal assault.
He said he desperately needed the treatment after he suffered bruises all over his body. He said he also had a fracture on his hand.
S/Sgt Heqoa said Correctional Senior Superintendent Ramangoane had told him that he was no longer on the list of patients to be transferred because his wounds were not visible.
He said he then pleaded with the prison nurse, Chief Officer Putsoane, to let him go.
CO Putsoane declined, saying he could not overturn a decision that had been made by his seniors.
S/Sgt Heqoa said it was during these negotiations that he witnessed the officers beating Tsoako.
“It (must have been) between 2.30 and 3pm. That person was brutally assaulted,” S/Sgt Heqoa said.
He said during the assault, one officer ordered that all the inmates be locked in their cells.
“I did not go to my cell together with the other injured inmates,” he said.
“I saw Sergeant Malefane and Sergeant Mahlaka assaulting that inmate with sticks,” he said.
“Near the same office where the inmate was assaulted, I saw Sergeant Senekane and Sergeant Nkhapetla. I also saw Chief Officer Posa; Chief Officer Mpelo was assaulting him.”
S/Sgt Heqoa told the commission that he saw Chief Officer Ratsietsi, Assistant Superintendent Mokhesuoe, and Assistant Superintendent Masiloane “standing and not doing anything while the assault was taking place”.
“That person was assaulted badly and he started crying, but after a while he was no longer crying; he became quiet in the middle of the assault,” he said.
He said from where he was standing, he could only see the sticks being raised and dropped on the inmate, adding that he heard the sound of the sticks beating his body.
He said after the brutal assault, Superintendent Mahlelebe, Assistant Commissioner Tsoto Manaka, and Senior Assistant Commissioner Sekautu arrived and entered the room where the inmate was being beaten.
He said the managers kept on looking at the inmate who was still lying down, not speaking or crying.
“After that, they stood at the veranda for a long time,” S/Sgt Heqoa said.
Sergeant Mohlaka, cross examining S/Sgt Heqoa, said “it is with intention and impunity that Heqoa has implicated me in the killing of Tsoako”.
Sgt Mohlaka said he would “not ask any further questions until all the implicated officers are asked to come to testify”.
He told S/Sgt Heqoa that he had lied to the commission, suggesting that the names of the officers were first mentioned by AC Manaka and “he took those names from the CCTV footage”.
Sgt Mohlaka said the officers mentioned would corroborate that he was not there during the assault.
“Both Mahlelebe and Sekautu never saw me on that day,” he said.
He said he was in Leribe on that Friday, saying he could provide the contact numbers of his relatives to prove his alibi.
The commission chairman, Justice Realeboha Mathaba, said he should not talk about the CCTV footage “because it does not cover inside the sergeants’ office”.
“We will not only depend on that footage,” Justice Mathaba said.
The judge said the officers should provide the commission with evidence of their whereabouts on the day of the assaults.
Justice Mathaba said the commission will not go to Leribe or call his relatives.
“The witness says he saw you assaulting an inmate who later died,” he said.
Supt Mahlelebe told the commission that he was not present during the assaults.
He said he left his house in the morning at 11am on December 22, 2023, saying even on December 23 and 24 he was still in Leribe.
“I left Leribe on December 25 2023,” he said.
S/Sgt Heqoa said “maybe he went to Leribe after that incident. I maintain he was here”.
CO Malefane also disputed that he assaulted Tsoako.
Nkheli Liphoto
