Lipolelo Thabane (1959 – June 14, 2017) was a
Mosotho
The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...
political figure and wife of prime minister
Tom Thabane
Thomas Motsoahae Thabane (born 28 May 1939) is a Mosotho politician who was the fifth prime minister of Lesotho from 2012 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2020. He founded the All Basotho Convention (ABC) in 2006 and led the party until 2022.
Thabane s ...
. She was murdered on June 14, 2017, two days before her husband's inauguration.
Biography
Lipolelo Thabane was born in Basutoland to a family of five siblings, of which she was the youngest. She had two children and was the second wife of Tom Thabane, whom she married in 1987. She was shot and killed while driving home on June 14, 2017, in Ha Masana, two days before Tom Thabane was to be inaugurated as prime minister of Lesotho.
During the political violence in the Kingdom of Lesotho, Lipolelo Thabane relocated to South African city of
Sandton, Johannesburg.
Despite the situation of her divorce from Tom Thabane, the court declared her first lady of Lesotho during Thabane's first run for the prime minister position, instead of his newly customarily wed wife. This was issued on the basis that their filed divorce was not yet granted.
In February 2020,
Maesiah Thabane
Maesaiah or Maesiah Thabane (born 16 April 1977) is the wife of the former prime minister of Lesotho Tom Thabane since her marriage to Thabane on 27 August 2017.
On 10 January 2020, police issued an arrest warrant for Maesiah Thabane in connecti ...
, Tom Thabane's current wife, was investigated for Lipolelo Thabane's murder.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thabane, Lipolelo
1959 births
2017 deaths
Spouses of national leaders
Lesotho women in politics
Lesotho expatriates in South Africa
People murdered in Lesotho
Deaths by firearm in Lesotho
Lesotho murder victims