Mohale FM By: Hopolang Mokhotsi
SUSPENDED Refugee and Migration Liaison Officer, Nthatisi Thabane, is challenging the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police’s decision to disqualify her from the race to fill the Commissioner of Refugees position, despite having made it into the top three finalists.
Ms Thabane, who acted as Commissioner of Refugees from October 2024, claims her suspension was a calculated move aimed at eliminating her from contention for the senior government post.
She was suspended on 24 June 2025 by the ministry’s former Principal Secretary, ’Mamphaka Mabesa. The suspension letter stated only that she was being investigated for corruption and would be out of office for no more than three months. However, Ms Thabane says she was taken aback when Dr Mabesa extended her suspension by a further three months on 16 September 2025
In her court papers, Ms Thabane states that the Refugee Commissioner’s position was advertised by the ministry in January 2025, while she was still acting in the role. She says she duly applied like any other candidate and was later sent to the United States for training under the American’s International Visitors Leadership Programme.
The Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship, Home Affairs and Police, the ministry itself, and the Public Service Commission (PSC) are cited as first to third respondents in her application.
