OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Thursday 7.30pm.
The Langa Commission’s final report on alleged election fraud in Lesotho contained no surprises, an aide of Deputy President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday afternoon.
The director-general in Deputy President Thabo Mbeki’s office, Frank Chikane, indicated that the findings were similar to the commission’s interim report in August, which found the May 23 elections had been mishandled by Lesotho’s independent electoral commission. However, he would not comment on the extent of the irregularities.
Chikane also cautioned against attributing the delay in publicising the report to what he said might be a mistaken belief that the findings were explosive.
He was speaking after accompanying Mbeki to Maseru, where he and his Southern African Development Community troika colleagues on Lesotho received a briefing on the final report from the commission.
Mbeki, Botswana Foreign Minister Mompati Merafhe and Zimbabwean envoy Nelson Moyo, held a series of meetings late on Wednesday with the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy, opposition parties and King Letsie III, about the report.
Chikane said the three were scheduled to consult President Nelson Mandela, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Botswana President Festus Mogae on how best to handle the release of the report.