YOUNG woman marries an African leader nearly twice her age and becomes the apparent power behind the throne. She’s accused of committing a crime so audacious and outrageous it makes headlines around the world.
You’d be forgiven for thinking we’re talking about Grace Mugabe, flamboyant former first lady of Zimbabwe – but the woman in question is Lesotho’s Maesaiah Thabane (42). And she’s at the heart of a gripping murder mystery that has flabbergasted the tiny mountain kingdom and puzzled the globe.
Maesaiah dominated the news when she recently turned herself in to police in South Africa – where she’d fled – after a warrant of arrest had been issued in her home country in connection with the death of her love rival.
She was escorted back across the border to Lesotho’s capital, Maseru, where she’s expected to stand trial eventually.
The first lady, who’s married to Lesotho prime minister Thomas Thabane (80), is accused of ordering a hit on his estranged wife, Lipolelo Thabane.
Lipolelo was shot execution style two days before Thabane took office in 2017. One evening, while returning home with a friend, she was ambushed, shot several times at close range and died on the side of a dirt road in Maseru.
Her friend was shot too but survived, although she’s been left paralysed.
Lipolelo (58) had at that point been locked in a drawn-out divorce from the prime minister, who described it as “a senseless killing” at the time.
Although there was no evidence linking the politician or his younger lover to the crime, in the hallowed halls of Lesotho’s parliament there were whispers that Maesaiah was the mastermind behind the murder.
“In December, speculation turned into allegations,” The Economist reports.
Esta historia es de la edición 20 February 2020 de YOU South Africa.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición 20 February 2020 de YOU South Africa.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
BALLON IN THE BAG
Manchester City midfielder Rodrigo Hernandez Cascante says his Ballon d'Or win is a victory for Spanish football
IT WAS ALL A LIE
A new doccie exposes the Grey's Anatomy writer who fabricated her life story
'I WILL NEVER GIVE UP'
After her husband, anticorruption activist Alexei Navalny, was poisoned and murdered by the Kremlin, she became the public face of Russia's opposition. In this candid interview Yulia Navalnaya opens up about life on the run, her perilous family life and why she's continuing her husband's fight to save their country
AGREE TO DISAGREE
Trevor Noah on how his childhood squabbles with his mother inspired his delightful new book
PAUSE THE CLOCK
Researchers have discovered that the ageing process spikes at 44 and 60. Here's what you can do to slow it down
MPOOMY ON TOP
We chat to SA's most popular female podcaster about love, loss and her booming success
MY BROTHER IS NOT TO BLAME
Tinus Drotské says his sibling, ex Bok Nǎka, is the victim in the brawl with a neighbour that landed up in court
MATT THE RECLUSE
A year after his friend's tragic death, the actor continues to shun the spotlight
A LEAP OF FAITH
After her husband tried to kill her by tampering with her parachute she thought she'd never trust a man again-but now she's found love
THEY'RE MY KIDS!
This West Coast woman treats her monkeys as iftheyre humans and animal activists are not happy about it